What happens to the ballot after it is marked?

Discover Canada records this in one direct sentence. The guide writes: The poll official will tear off the ballot number and give your ballot back to you to deposit in the ballot box. The procedure the test wants is therefore the poll official tears off the ballot number, then the voter deposits the ballot in the ballot box.

Two specific actions follow marking. Discover Canada commits the post-marking procedure to TWO specific actions: (1) the poll official tears off the ballot number; and (2) the voter deposits the ballot in the ballot box. So the procedure protects ballot secrecy (by removing the identifying number) AND empowers the voter (the voter physically casts their own ballot).

Secret ballot is the foundation. Discover Canada writes that "Canadian law secures the right to a secret ballot. This means that no one can watch you vote and no one should look at how you voted. You may choose to discuss how you voted with others, but no one, including family members, your employer or union representative, has the right to insist that you tell them how you voted." So the tear-off-the-number procedure preserves ballot anonymity — the ballot is no longer linked to the voter once the number is removed. Then the voter personally deposits the ballot, ensuring it actually goes into the official box.

The voting steps are systematic. Discover Canada commits voting to a specific sequence: arrive at the polling station, go behind the screen, mark the ballot, fold it, present it to the poll officials (who tear off the ballot number), deposit it in the ballot box. After polls close, election officers count the ballots, and results are announced on radio, television, in newspapers, and on the Elections Canada website (www.elections.ca). So when the test asks what happens to the ballot after it is marked, the source-precise answer is that the poll official tears off the ballot number and the ballot is deposited in the ballot box — the two-step post-marking procedure that protects secrecy and ensures the ballot reaches the box.

The question is testing whether new citizens know the post-marking ballot procedure. Discover Canada commits to one process: the poll official tears off the ballot number, then the voter deposits the ballot in the ballot box. The right test answer matches that.

The wrong answer choices each substitute a different procedure. "It is handed back to the voter" is partially correct but misses the deposit step — the voter takes the ballot back AFTER the number is torn off, then deposits it. "It is shredded immediately" reverses the source — the ballot must be counted, not destroyed. "It is scanned by a machine" misframes the source — the source describes a manual procedure with a poll official tearing off the number. Only the tear-and-deposit answer fully matches.