The votes have been counted, the new government has been sworn in, and Parliament will re-open soon. But what happens to your ballot paper from the 2017 General Election?

Enlarge image Source: Office of the Clerk

It’s not a matter of simply dumping or recycling it somewhere. By law, there is a rigorous process that each ballot paper from the election must go through.

The first step is the transport of the papers to a secure records storage facility in Wellington. Under the Electoral Act 1993, the Chief Electoral Officer must send all ballot papers, along with any other papers relating to the administration of the election, to the Clerk of the House of Representatives.

Enlarge image The ballot papers are shredded and compressed into stacks like these. Source: Office of the Clerk

These papers are boxed and sent in batches to the storage facility, where they must be kept for six months after the election. Once the six months is up, the papers are destroyed by being shredded and compressed into stacks (weighing around 450kg each), ready to be recycled.

Every step of the process, from the lodgement of the papers through to their destruction, has to be witnessed by a staff member from the Electoral Commission and the Office of the Clerk. Long hours are usually involved – an especially daunting prospect in the heart of the Wellington winter.

For this year’s General Election, there were more than 5,000 boxes to be lodged. The papers will be destroyed in May and June 2018 on a series of Saturdays. At the 2014 General Election, it took five days to complete the destruction of the papers.

Ballot papers weren’t always destroyed in this way, however. Other methods were used in previous years, such as burning them in a furnace in Ngongotaha and pulping them at a paper mill in Auckland.

Regardless of the specific way in which ballot papers are dealt with after an election, it makes sense that it is done thoroughly and carefully. After all, the papers represent a crucial part of our democracy!

Enlarge image The records storage facility in Wellington where the ballot papers are sent. Source: Office of the Clerk

Enlarge image A forklift driver unloads a fresh batch of ballot papers. Source: Office of the Clerk

Enlarge image Each pallet of boxes needs to be scanned in at the facility. Source: Office of the Clerk

Enlarge image These ballot papers hail from the Bay of Plenty. Source: Office of the Clerk