(a) If the type of voting machine provided shall require the counters to be seen in order to enable the election officers to canvass the vote, the election officers, in the presence of the watchers and all other persons who may be lawfully within the polling place, shall then make visible the registering counters, and, for that purpose, shall unlock and open the doors, or other covering concealing the same, giving full view of all the counter numbers. If the voting machine is equipped with mechanism for printing paper proof sheets, the election officers shall forthwith print not less than four proof sheets, and as many more as may be necessary to supply one to each member of the election board, overseer, candidate, watcher, representative of a newspaper, and other persons who may be lawfully present within the polling place, requesting the same. The judge of election and the minority inspector shall then, under the scrutiny of the majority inspector of election, the clerk appointed by the minority inspector, the overseers, if any, and the watchers, and in the order of the offices as their titles are arranged on the machine, read from the counters or from one of the proof sheets, as the case may be, and announce, in distinct tones, the designation or designating number and letter on each counter for each candidate's name, the result as shown by the counter numbers, the votes recorded for each office for persons other than nominated candidates, and the designation or designating numbers and letters on each counter, and the results as shown by the counter numbers for and against each question voted on. The counter shall not be read consecutively along the party rows or columns, but shall always be read along the office columns or rows, completing the canvass for each office or question before proceeding to the next.

(b) The vote as registered shall be entered by the election officers, in ink, on duplicate return sheets, and also on a general return sheet and statement, all of which, after the canvass is completed, shall be signed by the election officers, the clerk, and certified by the overseers, if any. If any election officer, clerk or overseer shall refuse to sign or certify the general or duplicate return sheets or statement, he shall write his reasons therefor upon said sheets. The vote for presidential electors shall be computed and returned as provided hereinbefore in section 1215 of this act.¹ If more than one voting machine is used in any election district, the vote registered on each machine shall be ascertained in like manner, and separately entered in appropriate spaces on the general and duplicate return sheets and statement. The total vote cast for each candidate, and for and against each question, shall then be computed and entered on the general and duplicate return sheets and statement. There shall also be entered on the general return sheet and statement the number of voters who have voted and in primaries, the number of voters who voted in each party, as shown by the numbered lists of voters, district register, and voting check list, and the number on each machine, as shown by the public counters, and also the number registered on the protective counter or device on each machine immediately prior to the opening of the polls and immediately after the closing thereof and sealing of the machine. The number or other designation of each machine used shall also be entered thereon. In the case of primary elections, duplicate return sheets shall be prepared as for other elections. The registering counters of the voting machine or the paper proof sheets, as the case may be, shall remain exposed to view until the said returns, and all other reports have been fully completed and checked by the inspectors, clerk and overseers, if any. During such time, any candidate, or duly accredited watcher, who may desire to be present shall be admitted to the polling place.

(c) The proclamation of the result of the votes cast shall be announced distinctly and audibly by the judge of election, who shall read the name of each candidate, the designation or designating numbers and letters of his counters, and the vote registered on each counter, also the vote cast for and against each question submitted. During such proclamation, ample opportunity shall be given to any person lawfully present to compare the results so announced with the counter dials of the machine or with the paper proof sheets, as the case may be, and any necessary corrections shall then and there be made by the election officers, after which the doors or other cover of the voting machine shall be closed and locked. Any ballots written, deposited, or affixed, in or upon the voting machine, shall be inclosed in properly sealed packages, and properly indorsed, and shall be delivered by the judge of election as hereinafter provided. The judge of election shall promptly deliver to the county board, or their duly authorized representative, the keys of the voting machine, inclosed in a sealed envelope, if the construction of the voting machine shall permit their separate return. Said envelope shall have indorsed thereon a certificate of the election officers, stating the number of the machine, the election district where it has been used, the number on the seal, and the number on the protective counter or device at the close of the polls.

(d) The election officers, on the foregoing returns, shall record any votes which have been cast for a person whose name is not printed on the ballot labels, by means of an irregular ballot, as defined herein. In returning any such votes which have been written or deposited upon receptacles or devices provided for the purpose, the election officers shall record any such names exactly as they were written or deposited.