(a) Immediately after the polls close and the last vote has been cast, the election judges will open the boxes containing the ballots. The ballots will be counted to determine whether the total number of ballots is equal to the total number of persons who voted as indicated in the original registry. If the number of ballots drawn from the ballot box does not match the number of ballots indicated by the registration book, the ballots shall be recounted until the election board finds that there is an unexplained error or that the number of ballots cast matches the number of ballots indicated by the registration tally. If a discrepancy is determined to exist between the number of votes cast and the registration tally, it shall be explained in detail on the tally paper or papers, and the explanation shall be signed by the election judges.
(b) The counting of the ballots shall be public. The opening of the ballot box at the close of the polls shall be in full view of any persons present. The public may not be excluded from the area in which the ballots are counted. However, the chairman of the election board shall not permit anyone present to interfere in any way or to distract the appointed officials from their duties, and no one other than appointed election officials may handle the ballots. The judges shall remove the ballots from the ballot box one by one, and tally the number of votes for each candidate and for or against each issue. The ballots shall be inspected for disqualifying marks or defects. The election judges shall cause the vote tally to be continued without adjournment until the count is complete.