Popular Democratic Movement v. Electoral Commission78, hold the view that only validly marked ballot papers amount to “votes.” In the circumstances, to determine the issue before us of what is meant by the “votes cast” to be taken into account in the computation to determine the threshold of 50% +1 under Article 138(4), resort has to be had to the meaning of the words “votes”, “cast” and even “ballot papers.” [163] Section 2 of our Elections Act defines the phrase “ballot paper” to mean “a paper used to record the choice made by a voter and shall include an electronic version of a ballot paper or its equivalent for purposes of electronic voting.” In their article “From Intent to Outcome: Balloting and Tabulation Around the World”, Birkenstock Joseph M. &. Sanderson Matthew T, define the term “ballot” in more or less the same way: “We use ‘ballot’ in the broadest sense of the word… [to mean] any instrument used in the act of voting, including paper ballots, optical scan sheets, punch cards, direct recording electronic voting machines.” [164] Herrnson Paul S. (et al) defines the ballot paper as “the means through which voters register their intentions….” 79 Echoing the same words, Isaacs J, sitting as a Court of Disputed Returns, in Kean v. Kerby 80 observed that “[t]he essential point to bear in mind in this connection is that the ballot itself is only a means to an end, and not the end itself.” Supra. ‘The Impact of Ballot Type on Voter Errors’ in American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 56, No. 3 (July 2012), pp. 716-730. 80 Kean v. Kerby, (1920) 27 C.L.R. 449. 78 79 Presidential  Petition  No.  1  of  2017                                                                                                                                                                                                            66  |  P a g e