Is that mark on the ballot paper a tick or an X or a chicken scratch?
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Ian Gordon stares intently at the Senate ballot and considers his verdict.
''I consider that to be an X and formal,'' he declares.
Mr Gordon is the Australian Electoral Officer for the ACT and, at election time, becomes Canberra's adjudicator.
When The Canberra Times visited the secure room where the ballot papers were being checked on Tuesday, two suspect ballots were brought to him for a verdict. Both made it through the cut and into the pile of formal ballots.
It's a working example of democracy-behind-the-scenes.
About two dozen AEC full-time and casual staff open, sort and check packets of ballots.
They sit at tables groaning with piles of paper, while all around circle scrutineers from the political parties.
When the scrutineers spot a likely dud ballot, they call for a review by the adjudicator. Checking and rechecking has been going on since Monday.
Mr Gordon says his team will remain in Civic for some time as the counting goes into the next phase - entering the below-the-line ballots into the computer.
''There's probably at least two weeks of data entry into our system,'' he said.
''We are expecting around 20 per cent of the ballot to be below the line and that's around 50,000.''
Retired Australia Post worker Alan Lomas, of Evatt, is working on his second election wash-up as a casual employee.
''We count the papers to verify the figures, it's very interesting,'' he said during a break.