After teachers vote this evening and the polls close, the ballots will be hand counted, says Joan Husted, former executive director for the teachers union.

Here’s how it usually happens, she tells us:

• Polls open. Most open at 3 p.m. today, with one opening at 2:30 and one at 3:30.
• Faculty representatives verify IDs, check in the teachers and give them their paper ballots.
• Retired teachers count the ballots by hand as soon as the poll closes, or everyone assigned to that site has voted — whichever happens first.
• The counting takes place out in the open, so teachers can observe if they want to.
• Only “yes” and “no” ballots count as valid. Void sheets, blank ones, those that aren’t marked clearly or those belonging to teachers whose membership could not be verified for some reason go into a “challenge” pile and are not counted in the total number of votes. 
• Usually there is someone assigned to double-checking the counts.
• Once ballots are counted, they are placed in a manilla envelope and sealed with sealing tape that is then signed by the person overseeing the polling site. 
• The ballots are held for 90 days, which is the time frime during which someone could challenge the voting results. In the union’s 44-year history, this has never happened, Husted says.
• If the final result is close and the number of absentee ballots issued could change the result, HSTA will wait until Jan. 26, when all absentee ballots are in and counted, to issue the final tally.
• If 50 percent plus one of the valid ballots cast are in favor of the proposed agreement, Hawaii’s teachers have a new contract.

HSTA has not yet returned several calls and emails from Civil Beat requesting information about how the union plans to release the results tonight.