So what happened next with Val's votes?

By Eugene Bingham

Polling officer Val Hosie knows exactly where the ballot papers at the centre of the missing votes scandal were the day after the election: on her verandah.

The Himatangi Beach resident took the votes home for the night and the next day left them outside - where they were collected.

But ask her where the missing 100 votes are now and she shrugs her shoulders. "I'm sure they're just misplaced," said Mrs Hosie, one of two staff at the Himatangi Beach Community Hall polling booth in the marginal lower North Island seat of Rangitikei.

Police are investigating the disappearance of the envelope containing the votes, which could prove crucial in a seat where National's Simon Power held an election-night margin of 68 over his Labour rival, Craig Walsham.

If the votes cannot be found, the result might be declared invalid, forcing a byelection in the electorate.

Mrs Hosie said the missing envelope contained a mixture of ballots, including split votes, informal votes and normal notes, reinforcing her view that there was no reason for anyone to tamper with them.

Of the missing votes, she remembers counting them, putting them in the envelope, sealing it and putting it in an official orange election box with other envelopes.

She took the votes home for safekeeping.

"They sat in the lounge and next morning they rang me about lunchtime to say there was someone coming to pick them up so I waited for him to come. While I was waiting, I put the boxes on that seat [outdoors.]"

Mrs Hosie said she did this so the collector could easily see which house the votes needed to be collected from.

She did not believe anyone was able to approach the box without her dog barking, so no one could have stolen the envelope.

"I didn't know they were missing until [the electorate returning officer] rang up and asked me which envelope I put them into.

"I'm sure it's there [at the electorate headquarters in Marton.]"

A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said there was nothing untoward about votes from a rural polling booth being kept at a polling clerk's home until they could be collected.

But the Labour Party campaign manager, Mike Williams, said last night that all votes should be taken to the returning officer of the electorate and he was concerned about how secure the ballot papers were kept.

The Electoral Act stated votes should be forwarded "forthwith" to the returning officer.

Meanwhile, both Labour and National are taking legal advice on their next moves.