I am a poll clerk AMA

[TheRozzers]

I was a poll clerk in the general election yesterday. Feel free to ask me any questions, it was a fascinating day!

Are all poll clerks volunteers? If so what an amazing thing to do and thanks!

Ha no we get paid £265 for a 16 hour shift. 6am-10pm. The Presiding Officers get a little more.

Were there many spoilt votes? If there's a common coherent theme amongst them (e.g. "women = adult human female" as opposed to "they're all twats"), do you have to tell the candidates?

How do you go about getting a job like that? I've always fancied it, the counting bit too

Best bit?

Worse bit?

No spoilt ballots at all in my polling station. We have a system to record and count all of them but there weren't any.

No details about why the ballot was spoiled is recorded by poll clerks.

I am not sure what happens to ballots that are quietly spoiled and put in the ballot box.

Most people work for the local Council and hear of it that way.

If not, in my area you can apply online via the Council website.

Spoilt ballots in the ballot box are sifted and recorded as such during the count (I've worked as a poll clerk and a count assistant).

What? It must vary - I get £200 ☹️

Is the new ID requirement actually a hinderance to voting? Did you have to turn away people? A large proportion or just the one?

It seems to be made into a big issue by parties. I wonder if it really is one.

You wouldn't know unless you were at the count. (poll clerk here too)

How could you possibly know what papers were spoiled? They go in the box along with every other one!

I was a poll clerk too.

The spoiled ballots which get recorded in the polling station will have been accidentally spoiled, if that happens the voter can go back and give the spoiled ballot to the poll clerk and ask for a replacement.

If someone deliberately spoils their ballot and puts it in the ballot box as a protest, that won't get picked up until the count.

I didn't work on the count this time, but I have in the past. Officially they are just recorded as spoiled, but depending on what you have written you may make some of the count staff smile.

Did you get trained on what a voter authority certificate is and did many people use one?

I was a poll clerk yesterday and we had a really high turnout. Had zero turn aways due to no ID. Had to turn 3 people away who weren't registered. 1 bloke turned up at 9.55pm but at the wrong station

Polling clerks won't see a spoiled ballot paper as they go straight into the box which is sealed and we have no access to

Have you ever witnessed someone ( say a couple- where one person is being unduly influenced to vote a certain way or trying to see who the other person is voting for. What happens in this situation? Is it illegal

When I arrived at the polling station yesterday, they took my name and then referenced the polling card I was given against my name.

Does this mean they could work out who I voted for?

Yes we are trained. We only had 1 yesterday

Best bits:

• Seeing how important this vote is to people
• Young people proud to be voting for the first time
• seeing democracy in action

Worst bits:

• 6am start
• Drunk, aggressive people
• Not being able to find voters on the sheet with a huge, impatient queue forming

Yes it is but only because people don't bring their poll card.

The poll card has their electoral number on it making it easy to find them on the register and issue the ballot. If not we have to look them up by street name and number.

People came in with ID and give us their post code (absolutely no use). It's incredible how many people don't know what street they live on!

Yes we did and got quite a few. Probably about 50 or so.

Yes, there are very limited circumstances where more than 1 person is allowed in a booth. It would only be if a disabled person needed a carer.

We had to tell one man he wasn't allowed in the ballot booth with his wife yesterday, but I think it was a mistake rather than a controlling situation.

Are there any rules about how the Polling Station is laid out?
Recently ours has had the booths positioned directly opposite the table where you give your details, so the people giving out the voting papers can see you from behind.
Previously the closed side was facing them. Is this allowed? It makes me feel "watched" although they probably are too far away to actually see what I'm doing!

In theory, yes your electoral reg number could be traced back to the ballot paper you were issued with but these details are sealed by the Presiding Officer after the election . Nobody would be able to access the information unless exceptional circumstances (ie a court order for suspected fraud)

@TheRozzers how interesting. Were you involved in the counting ?

The booths are designed for privacy but there are no specific rules about how far away from the poll clerks they need to be.

There was one booth facing my desk about 2m away but if I looked I wouldn't be able to see how people were voting. I was much too busy to look anyway.