Referendums (Scotland and Wales) Act 1997

11 (1) A counting officer shall, in accordance with any directions given by his Chief Counting Officer, appoint persons to observe the counting of the votes and the verification of the ballot paper accounts.

(2) No person may attend the counting of votes for any voting area unless he is—

(a) the counting officer for that area or a person appointed by him under rule 26 of the Parliamentary Elections Rules as applied by paragraph 13 below,

(b) a Chief Counting Officer,

(c) the Member of Parliament for a constituency wholly or partly within that area,

(d) an observer appointed by the counting officer for that area under sub-paragraph (1), or

(e) permitted by the counting officer for that area to attend the count.

(3) A counting officer shall give observers such reasonable facilities for observing the proceedings, and all such information with respect to them, as he can give them consistently with the orderly conduct of the proceedings and the discharge of his duties in connection with them.

(4) Before a counting officer makes a certification under section 1(6)(b) or 2(6)(b), or makes any public announcement as to the result of the count, he shall consult his Chief Counting Officer who may direct him to recount—

(a) the ballot papers, or

(b) in the case of the referendum in Scotland, either or both of the forms of ballot paper.

(5) In this paragraph “voting area” means a local government area in Scotland or a county or county borough in Wales.