I’m a vote counter, AMA

[jackiesgirl]

So I thought this was really mundane, but ever since Trumps “rigged election” bollocks, the introduction of voter ID and those “use a pen” posts, everyone I speak to seems terribly interested in it.
Not working tonight as no election in the area I count for.

I noticed pens are available on request at my polling station but pencils are supplied as standard. Why do you think we haven't ditched the pencils?

They’re cheaper

Pencils are simply the best option for a polling station.

They are much more likely to work, don't transfer (you don't want ballots spoilt because of ink transfer and making it unclear what the voters intention is) and (when the appropriate grade of pencil is used) are impossible to erase without leaving traces.

Pencils can also be easily stored between elections cutting down on waste and unnecessary expenditure.

Everyone talks about pencils, but I've only ever used chinagraph (grease) pens.

Makes a lovely bold "X" - no mistaking it.

Pencils are cheaper and don’t dry out between elections.

How much are you paid for being a vote counter?

How did you get into the role?

How does the counting work? Especially with ballot papers that contain multiple votes.

Your local council website should have details on rates of pay. One of my friends who works for our local council did it at the last General election.
Many years ago when I worked for a high street bank we used to get asked to help, mainly because we were used to counting paper.

How do you count votes when there are several crosses on one ballot paper?

It depends how long they think it’s going to take, it’s a set amount rather than an hourly rate. For a local election it’s normally about £80, for a general it’s about £175 and anything else in between depending how they expect the turnout to be and how complex it is to count

I enquired at the council out of interest when I was younger and now get asked back every time. There was no interview or anything.

How do you get into vote counting?

They’re counted multiple times - all papers with a vote for candidate 1, then candidate 2 etc. But I’ve been doing this for 15 years and only had to do that once.
It’s usually straightforward - you count the total ballots first to make sure it matches what the polling station reported and none have been lost. Then you sort into piles for each party and bundle into 50s. Once each box is done, they check if it matches the total and if not, it has to be done again.