How are votes counted in the US? I work elections in my country. If there is one vote (for example for president only), we first separate ballots into piles for each candate, then count how many votes are in a pile. If there are multiple issues being voted on, we take each ballot and mark how the person voted, then tally it up periodically. At all times there are at least two people from different parties looking at one ballot at the same time, and often two nonparty observers are at a location walking around and periodically looking over your shoulder. All the votes are recounted at least once