Art of the tallyman returns to centre stage at vote counts

PERCHED along the railings in front of election counts around the country, the hawk-eyed tallymen use their keen vision and strong concentration to spot every movement of the ballot boxes below.

Having narrowly escaped extinction from the e-voting predator, flocks of tallymen are returning in their thousands this morning, with the earliest birds getting the best positions in over 100 count centres. Securing a closer position to the returning officer than the tallies from opposing parties, they latch onto their position, vigorously guard their territories and wait for the count to begin.

When they went through this same ritual in the 2004 local and Euro-elections, tallymen thought it was the last time their arithmetic skills would be needed. But when the short and troubled life of the e-voting machine finally met its death two months ago, the hawks returned to scavenge at its carcass.