Tomorrow I’ll be a Presiding Officer in a polling station. AMA

[Tygertiger]

This may not be the most thrilling AMA in the world, but if there is anything you’ve always wondered about the voting process, go ahead!

No. Absolutely not!! You have to have all your paperwork in and all the numbers must tally. Left over ballots must correspond to ballots issued etc etc.

What time did you all get home last night?

And did you have your cars packed correctly??

I left the polling station at 10.15, dropped the box, picked up a McD's at the drive thru and home by 10.45.

Had a good day, great team, decent venue, lots of dogs. We were in a pub and chef put out trays of treats for us and the voters all though the day - sausage rolls, cake and even vol au vents. And the waitresses made us hot drinks. Quite the party atmosphere!

I left at 2212, a record for me and was at the count by 2245 - in bed before midnight!

I think I left at 10:20, then faced an annoying queue at the count so didn’t get away from there until 11. It was 11:30 when I got home.

I then sat up with my son watching election coverage until 1 (he stayed up all night).

How do you ensure that the person checking the voter ID passes this information on to the person issuing the ballot paper?
I have raised this in my own post, but I’d like to hear from the horse’s mouth how it should be done. Thanks ☺️

We checked IDs on the same table.

We had two clerks at the desk doing the register and issuing ballot paper. The 3rd person stood next to the first clerk calling people forward from the queue and checking their ID. Then passed them to the register clerk. Both within earshot of each other.
We only did this when there was a queue. Otherwise the register clerk checked ID and the register.

My view is that 99.99% of voters are legitimate and honest. Asking people to confirm name and address more than once picks up any slight hesitation or shiftiness which may arouse suspicion. Doing the repetitive task for 16 hours straight means we develop spider senses when something may be amiss. And we have procedures to follow.

Where I voted, there were 3 ladies at a table.
The first 2 had lists of addresses in front of them.

You gave your street and the one who had that street on her list motioned you forward.

She took name and checked ID then called out a number to the third lady, who was handing out the ballot papers. She wrote it down and handed us the papers.

Thanks. Are there any official guidelines laying down how checking of ID is linked to the issue of the ballot paper?

Thank you so much to all of you who worked in the election process!