After the close of poll, the returning officer, in accordance with procedures approved under section 137 , is to –

(a) open declaration vote envelopes admitted for further scrutiny under section 138 ; and

(b) open postal vote declaration envelopes admitted for further scrutiny under section 139 ; and

(c) remove the ballot papers; and

(d) reject and count all informal ballot papers; and

(e) count the number of first preference votes recorded for each candidate on all ballot papers not rejected under paragraph (d) ; and

(f) record the results of the count.