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!

The pay is peanuts though for the hours and responsibility, but it was always a welcome extra. The best elections were the ones where we had a combination of PC, Town, Borough and Parliamentary all on the same day!

@Seeline fair enough. I thought there could be some sort of 'tell' haha. You are right, you can never ever judge a book by it's cover. As my old boss used to say 'assumption is the mother of all fuck ups'. Thanks again!

It will sometimes depend on the area you cover, and where the polling station is located but there are generally rush times
On the morning commute
School drop off
Lunch time
School pick up
Evening return from work
9.55pm

The last is a real pain because you're trying to close the station and finish all the endless paperwork and start packing the car to get the ballot boxes to the count!

I'm really intrigued at what the rules are for how you must pack your car. Isn't it just to make sure that the ballot boxes are in there and safely sealed and untampered with?

Why does it matter how you pack it? And do they send you for 're-education' and refuse your car load if you have anything else in there - maybe a stack of old car park tickets or a half-eaten bag of crisps?!

It is above minimum wage - 16 hour day including setting up and finishing off plus 1 hour training online - works out about £16.50 per hour for polling clerk- I was only recording and handing out ballot papers - the presiding officer did all the checking in and ID checks.

Loads of free time in May to read and eat - not expecting that on Thursday when it should be a lot busier

I always take my polling card with me - it just seems 'improper' not to - but I've always seen it mainly as your official notification of the election and your right to vote in it, rather than the actual means to vote.

There's no excuse for rudeness, if people are saying "Can't you read?" or similar; but I can see how many would initially just hand over their polling card and assume that's all they need to do.

Many people might, quite reasonably, prefer not to say their name and address out loud in front of strangers. Aside from people living at 'sensitive' addresses (women's refuges, medical/mental health/addiction facilities, witness protection etc.) - as well as those who just like to preserve their privacy in general - if there are canvassers, nosey neighbours or anybody else with ill-intent, I wouldn't want to make it easy for them to know where I live.

How many voters don't needlessly slap the ballot box after depositing their vote? And are there any who take it to excess and go the full Cadbury-gorilla-drums-Phil-Collins?

I wish!!

I can only speak for the areas I have worked in but they have all had the same packing rules:

balot box in the footwell or front seat of the car (my polling station is MASSIVE so my boxes go in the footwell). Passenger seat is a clear box with unused ballots. On top of this are envelopes with postal votes/ spoiled ballots/ tendered ballots.

On the back seats are black bag (waste) brown sack (recycle) green sack and clear sack - reusables and consumables like tactical voting devices, mirrors, pencils, signs.

In the boot are polling booths. You drive to checkpoint one and are asked if you have packed correctly. You wind down your windows and torch check of your vehicle is made. At this point you can be sent to the dreaded query. You never want to go there. At checkpoint 2 someone opens and empties your boot. Check point 3 opens your doors and empties your car. You are waved between the checkpoints by a huge team in high vis with batons like ground crew at the airport. It is very very slick.

Ah, thank you! So it's not a way of dictating how you use your own car per se and checking that it's clean enough to be worthy of the ballot; it's just so that the unloaders immediately know exactly what to find where in each vehicle, to speed things up? That makes sense.

People can request an anonymous vote, interestingly - there’s a whole process for this, but essentially if anyone could be at risk of harm from declaring their name and address they can be registered as an anonymous entry. They must bring their special poll card they will have been issued, but this will only have their elector number on, not their name or address, and they will have an Elector’s Document which has a photo on but again, no identifying details. The whole process is done without them ever needing to say their name or address.

Ooh! My cousin just told me her passport has run out. She thinks it will still be fine to use as photo ID but I’m really worried it won’t. Would she be able to use it? She doesn’t have a driving licence and I’ve been racking my brains for what else she could use! I was going to suggest she take it with a utility bill as extra ID!

I have been one of those people outside who ask for your card or polling number. They are volunteers from different political parties and the reason they do this is so they can cross you off their list of people who have voted. This is so they don’t call round to your house later to ask if you have voted. They get their information on who is voting for them from canvassing.

You absolutely do not have to show your card but, IME, people who are voting for the party you represent usually are happy to do that. All volunteers from the different parties generally share the information amongst each other in any case. Normally they will be wearing a rosette to indicate which party they represent. They are not allowed to ask who you are voting for or block you from entering the station or harass you in any way. If they do, tell the officer inside. Usually the officer will come out and talk to the volunteers, ask them to keep the entrance clear etc. There is normally a good relationship between everyone on polling day.

They aren’t interested in how you vote unless you tell them and can’t tell from your card. I have had people being very hostile, which is unpleasant and unnecessary.

In terms of polling cards, you don’t need to bring them (unless you are an anonymous voter, see post above) but it does make the process quicker for us - we can see your voter ID number straight away which makes finding your address easier and it has your poll station code, so we can help if you’ve gone to the wrong station. But it’s not essential if you don’t bring it, lots of people don’t.

Expired ID is fine to use, as long as the photo is still a good likeness.

That behaviour sounds remarkably unaware of boundaries.

Actually asking to see your card - with your personal information on - knowing full well that many people won't realise that they don't have any need or right to ask for that information, unlike the officials inside.

What right do they think they have to know whether or not you have chosen to use your vote?

How old is the youngest person you have seen going to vote? My son was 18 yesterday and voting for the first time tomorrow. I'm wondering if he will be the youngest voter in our polling station.

That's good to hear. It's amazing how many organisations will act as though your passport or driving licence, once it has expired, is suddenly no proof whatsoever of your identity.

Ironically, if fraudsters were going to go to all the effort of counterfeiting a fake document, the first thing they would do is to make sure that they used a recent/current/long-valid date!

Phew! Unlike me she still looks the same as ten years ago (where as I have aged into our grandma 😂)

Can I take my DD into the polling booth?

Yes (assuming she is under 18 😁)

Wow, I bet that flashed by in no time at all - from crayons and colouring books to a pencil and his first ever ballot paper!

He must be a strong contender for the youngest. A lot of people never even get to vote in their first general election until they are 22 or 23, depending on when their birthday falls.

I’m looking forward to hopefully lots of 18 year olds turning up for their first vote! Exciting for them.

So does that mean you can't have anybody accompanying you if you're over 18? What if you need a carer? I presume that's allowed?

Is there any mechanism for blind or partially-sighted people to be able to vote independently - Braille or a method using audio - or are they forced to rely on a sighted proxy to mark their ballot on their behalf?

Yes! We always make a massive deal of it in our station 😍

Oh yes, totally! If you’re not disabled, you go into the booth with no other adult in order to preserve the secrecy of the vote and ensure you’re not being coerced. However, disabled people can absolutely take a carer or assistant in with them, or they can ask me to help them vote if required (more forms to fill in). We also have braille papers to hand and a tactile voting device.