The ballot in pale ink

Text C: an original fiction extract.

Jai had promised that the school council election would finish before lunch. As election secretary, he had printed the papers, sealed the empty ballot box in front of the candidates and written the counting rules on the classroom board. The rules said that every valid paper needed the school's purple stamp on the back. Two pupils would count independently. The headteacher would announce the result at one o'clock.

At eleven, the first count gave Noor forty-three votes and Kian forty-two. There were three invalid papers: one blank, one marking both names and one without a visible stamp. Jai put them in separate envelopes while the second counter began. Outside the classroom, someone had already told Kian that he had lost by one. Jai had not released any figures.

The second counter, Rosa, held the apparently unstamped paper near the window. A pale purple curve appeared at one edge. The ink pad had been running dry during the final class's visit, she remembered. Jai looked at the stamp he had been using. He had pressed harder when it faded, then replaced the pad, but had not checked the backs of papers already given out. The doubtful paper supported Kian. If it counted, the vote was tied.

Noor asked whether the faint curve could be a mark from another paper. Kian said the rules required a stamp, not a bright stamp. Both spoke politely, which made Jai more uncomfortable than shouting would have done. He wanted the headteacher to decide immediately. Rosa asked him to place all the late-session papers together first. Several had equally pale stamps, although their full outlines were visible. Jai photographed the disputed mark and recorded why it was uncertain. He kept the disputed paper separate, without moving it into either candidate’s accepted pile.

At twelve forty-five, he asked both candidates to join him in the headteacher's office. He explained the problem in the same order to each and admitted that he had not checked the fading ink. The headteacher postponed the announcement until the election panel could review the evidence under the published rules. Noor missed the beginning of her science club to attend; Kian waited with his lunch still wrapped. Neither seemed especially grateful for a fair delay.

Jai took the results notice off the hall door. A younger pupil asked who had won. He said they were checking one paper. The pupil asked why, if there was only one. Jai looked at the empty space where the notice had been. That evening, his neat timetable lay beside Rosa's photograph. He had completed almost every job he had listed. The unfinished one was the reason the election still mattered.

You are Jai. That evening, write your journal entry about the unfinished election count.

In your response:

• describe what went wrong and how you dealt with it
• reflect on your feelings about the candidates and your own responsibility
• consider what a trustworthy election requires and what you would change next time

Base your response on Text C, developing its ideas in your own words. Write about 250 to 300 words. Up to 10 marks are available for reading and up to 10 marks for writing.