Become an Election Worker

You will receive a payment relevant to your role and full training, so you're prepared for the job.

It's a great opportunity to work as part of a team and take a sense of pride doing your civic duty. If you like the work, your work this year will give you the necessary experience to fulfil a more senior Election role in the future.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we'll be carrying out enhanced health and safety measures at all venues to ensure all the rules and restrictions are followed.

Voting day

Count

For polling station staff, the hours are between 6.30am and 10.30pm.

For Count staff, the hours are between 8 am and 6 pm, although if recounts are necessary, it may take longer.

It is expected that election workers should attend a short online training course during April. Successful completion of the training is necessary and an appropriate fee for the role will be paid.

Presiding Officers are responsible for running the ballot in the polling stations. They make sure voters can cast their votes in secret and free from influence. They aim to create and maintain a calm atmosphere and make sure the proper procedure for voting is followed and that the ballot is secure.

We expect anyone working at the election to act impartially and be polite and professional in dealing with voters, candidates and agents, representatives of the Electoral Commission and accredited observers in all circumstances.

The Presiding Officer has several duties including:

At the polling station

• organising the layout of the polling station and liaise with the key-holder of the building if required
• opening and closing the polling station on time
• being responsible for all the ballot papers, paperwork and ballot boxes
• receiving any postal votes handed in by voters
• keeping the polling station neat and tidy
• making sure that all signs and notices are clear, visible and remain in place throughout the day

The process of voting

• being responsible for the health and safety of voters and staff within the polling place
• instructing and supervising the work of the polling clerks
• maintaining order in the polling station
• ensuring  all ballot papers are issued correctly to eligible voters
• dealing with special voting procedures as required
• managing the attendance of those entitled to be present in the polling station and to making sure they do not interfere with the voting process
• monitoring the activities of tellers (people who work on behalf of political parties) outside polling places and making sure they do not interfere with the voting process
• cleaning surfaces within the polling place

A Clerk assists Presiding Officers in carrying out their duties to run the polling station but do not have the responsibilities of the Presiding Officer. They should know all the procedures for voting and how to deal with common problems.

We expect anyone working at the election to act impartially and be polite and professional in dealing with voters, candidates and agents, representatives of the Electoral Commission and accredited observers in all circumstances.

The duties of a Clerk include:

• assisting with the layout of the polling station and prepare for the opening of the poll
• checking that voters are eligible to vote in the election and at this polling station
• checking and mark voters’ elector numbers in the register of electors
• writing the voter’s electoral number on the corresponding number list
• issuing ballot papers to voters, and making sure that they bear the official mark
• making sure that voters cast their votes in secret
• maintaining the secrecy of the ballot at all times
• answering voters’ questions, where appropriate, in a friendly and professional way
• helping with any other polling station duties on the instruction of the Presiding Officer
• directing voters to the correct polling station
• managing queues to vote
• cleaning surfaces within the polling place
• assisting the presiding Officer to complete necessary procedures after the close of the polling station

An Election Auxiliary is a new role that has been created to manage the additional hygiene and the social distancing needed in polling stations in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

We expect anyone working at the election to act impartially and be polite and professional in dealing with voters, candidates and agents, representatives of the Electoral Commission and accredited observers in all circumstances.

An election auxiliary’s duties include:

• Cleaning polling booths and equipment throughout day
• Managing queues to ensure social distancing

Senior Enumerators play an important role in elections by making sure the process of vote counting is robust and transparent, and that spoiled papers are accounted for correctly.

They are responsible for the count tables operating well and making sure that candidates and agents do not interrupt the enumerators while they're working.

Each table performs a mini-count, which the Senior Enumerator is responsible for. They're also responsible for the related paperwork and liaising with Accountants to verify ballot papers. Accountants are allocated to each constituency and may be called on to troubleshoot issues during the count.

The role involves:

• Checking all spoiled and unused ballot papers
• Being calm and polite and managing occasionally tense circumstances
• Having some experience of using technology such as sending and receiving messages and completing online forms

To be an effective Senior Enumerator, we would expect that you will already have experience of being an enumerator in a previous election.

Enumerators are the people who count the votes after the ballot boxes have been delivered from the polling stations to the count venue. They work as a team with other enumerators on a count table and are supervised by the Senior Enumerator.

No previous experience is required but you should enjoy working in a team, have basic numeracy skills and good manual dexterity.