Polling station drama llamas.

[Peppatina]

I can't be the only one enjoying a spot of polling station drama can I?

Two heavily tattooed men very angry that they have had a postal vote come through but no voting slip and they want to vote. Poor helper frantically trying to get hold of head office.

A polish couple also very irate at being told they are not eligible to vote and storming off.

Anyone else got any polling station drama to share?

(Just trying to distract myself from the anxious wait now!)

One of the reasons to use a pencil is that, if pen ink is still wet when you fold your ballot paper, the cross can be printed on another part of the paper, invalidating the vote

So all of the slightly bonkers people thinking that pencils are open to problems have got the wrong end of the stick completely.

That's quite apart from the fact that pencils are less prone to breakdown and can be stored easily with no loss of performance.

While I was waiting for the person in front of me to be found on the register, TWO people (they were together) barged past and cut in the line as the person in front finished. They were oblivious but I think the official behind the desk clocked my death stare.

Then 5 year old ds tried to have a look inside the ballot box while I was voting and Dd escaped out of her pushchair and tipped it over.

So all in all, I was the drama at our polling station.

It is possible that fees change from council to council...I've always had flat fees. But then again, I'm in Northumberland where some polling stations are caravans in fields.

It REALLY DOES matter which ballot box you put your vote in. If you have two ballot boxes, there are two stations in one room so to speak. Two presiding officers / staff. If you put your ballot paper into the wrong box the count would be wrong at the end / wouldn't match with ballot papers issued.

There are so many rules & regulations surrounding voting & polling stations to ensure the ballot is secret and can't be tampered with. They rely on staff, many like me don't work for local government. I genuinely find it fascinating, there is nowt queerer than folk!

There was a lot of cake at mine.
Im now wondering how i get this job? cake and money, I'm in.

We've got a temporary polling station which means there are 3 portakabins, A, B & C.

When we were there with the kids at 8.30 (deliberately with the kids, as I think it's important for them to understand as soon as they can) a woman came in and it was obviously the 2nd portakabin she'd been in and her name wasn't on the list (it did clearly say which of the 3 you had to go in on your polling card, but she didn't have it with her).

She stormed off, shouting "for fuck's sake".

The polling clerks looked at each other, sighed and said "I think we're going to have a lot of that."

I really was laughing when I came across a FB thread about the pen/pecil conspiracy!
Apparently, you have to use pen because pencil will be erased.
It must be black - no other colour will be counted.
If you make any marks or smudges outside the box then your vote won't be counted.
And it must be a cross - ticks don't count.

Answers about ticks & crosses - and many other things - on BBC election guide.

"Can I put a smiley face instead?
The Electoral Commission says the best way to make sure your vote is counted is to mark an X in a box. But a smiley face or anything which is interpreted by a returning officer as an expression of preference "must not be rejected if the voter's intention is clear", its guidance to Counting Officers says."

That is the guidance. As long as one box is clearly marked (cross, tick, smiley face), it is taken!
It also cheers those counting up!
Some people write abusive messages, I'm not sure who they think sees their ballot paper!

News on the pen/pencil dichotomy

"Leave campaigners are worried that the EU referendum is being manipulated by the government – two-thirds of Ukip voters believe that there is a plot to rig the vote, and a third of them believe that MI5 are involved in it, according to a poll this week."

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/eu-referendum-brexit-how-to-vote-own-pens-polling-station-polls-live-latest-mi5-conspiracy-fears-a7097011.html

Some people write abusive messages, I'm not sure who they think sees their ballot paper!

They have to be read out at the count.

I know someone at local count in May. There was a message written about a candidate, and she had to sit there whilst it was read out. She was not impressed.

Votes are not anonymous, they can be traced, so you should not write anything offensive etc on a ballot.

All very calm in my local village. Ds & I the only ones there.

The lady In front of me dropped an envelope with a cheque and a form in for her child's leaving picture from preschool. I was on my way to drop DD off so gave it back to her.

I also informed the BT Openreach man that parking his van right on the corner of the access road to the village hall so it blocked one lane and made turning into or out of the road dangerous which on any other day would not be an issue but today could cause all sorts of drama. He was v v good about it, moving his ban and happy that if the hall was open all day he could use the toilet. Exciting stuff!!

We live opposite the village hall that's used as the polling station and I've never seen it so busy.

Sometimes I wonder with this much excitement in my life how I manage to get through the day!

I worked as a count assistant for the 2011 Scottish Parliament elections. I think there was also a referendum that day on the alterative Vote system. Most of the paid volunteers were employees of the relevant local authority but they needed extra bodies that year so extended their request for staff to other public sector organisations including the police and nhs. I applied through a request on my works intranet site and got the job. Got paid a bit extra than agreed as we were kept on due to a number of recounts and the length of time it took to count the list votes.

I was later asked if I wanted to go on a list of approved staff for future elections but failed to submit the form in time. Pity as it was good money.

They were advertising for staff on fb in our area this year. I don't think thrre were many requirements but didn't read in detail.

I was the only one in my polling station today at 2pm, only me and two officials. Don't think there will be a high turnout in my area

needascarf yes they get paid, no you don't have to have a particular profession - you just have to have the relevant skills (accuracy, speed, working under pressure etc), as far as I know no particular checks but once you've done it once and proved you're not useless they tend to invite you to apply again every time. Most people work for the local authority, or have done in the past but it's not a requirement it's just easier for them to pay you if you are already an employee. A lot of retired people do it every time, their 'job' for the year.

Very sedate in our typical English village - took my son about 4.00, we were the only people there - he did then have a poo to liven things up!

I can't believe I missed some excitement.

I voted this morning at 8am, and the only thing accompanying me was tumbleweed

Mine was more dramatic on the way to the poll booth... Our poll station was in a high school and I was (luckily) behind a gentleman that looked like he knew where he was going - so I followed!

He first turned into a hall having an assembly, secondly he walked into a Spanish lesson! The third door was the poll room though v glad it wasn't me...