Election Day duties - Poll Clerk or Presiding Officer

A couple of my local authority colleagues did this regularly. They regarded it as a day off with extra pay. They weren’t the busiest so didn’t get behind with their relatively small workload. I never volunteered - I was busy enough in the office. Sounds like you had a good time - I pity those who (wo)man the polling station at our village hall - it has a loo and a small kitchen but there are no other facilities for miles. However once the polling station was the parish Church which only has a loo. And as a small village with few residents, it must make for an incredibly boring day.

Well mine was a large suburban library in a shopping center so quite a good day off. At least we didnt go short of reading matter. No mobiles or smart phones then (1970s). I did local elections as well. They could be quite boring as there was usually a low turnout.

Yes, years ago when I worked for a LA. It was interesting but a long day as the count went on for a long time too.

Another time NALGO threatened a strike on the day of a General Election but called it off and the election went ahead.

Good old NALGO, I remember it well!

I remember being a polling clerk with my DH more than 50 years ago. His father was a town clerk and set everything up for us. I don’t remember much about it except that it was in a very rural part of Dorset and the village hall being hardly ever used was full of flies both dead and alive. Lovely! We took sandwiches and had a very relaxed though boring day as there were very few voters being in such a remote area. I never wanted to do it again.

I've done it a few times. Usually in schools. A long day, sometimes cold if the school caretaker didn't put the heating on. A very important part of the democratic process and nothing to be looked down upon.

Yes I remember NALGO and was a member for years. They used to call strike meetings at Liverpool Stadium.

It was really busy the couple of times I was a poll clerk.
I enjoyed it but I was very young then!

Yes, I did presiding officer regularly and thoroughly enjoyed it. Had a day off regular work for very long polling day and then zombied my way through to weekend where I slept into 'recovery'

I have a close relative who has done it for years.
Not my cup of tea.

An inspector type person appears about 3 times during the 15 hours.

Yes, I've been a Presiding Officer umpteen times - I worked in the Town Clerk's Department and we were expected and encouraged to volunteer. But, tut tut biglouis I can't believe you asked your Polling Clerk to go and get you some food from nearby shops! It was drummed into us that under no circumstances could we leave the premises, it was viewed as a crime!

Ah, I've just realised biglouis you probably meant you asked a staff member who wasn't actually working on the Election to go to the shop! So no crime committed 🙄

I still do Poll Clerk duties in the village I used to live in.

Yes, it’s a long day and the pay is not great if you take into account the number of hours you’re there.

I enjoy it. It’s not like it’s a weekly occurrence.

The PCC elections in May were very poorly attended, but the General will be much busier, I’m sure.

The new identity rules have been no problem where I work, only one person brought the wrong i/d in.

Just a tip to anyone going in to vote. You don’t have to take your poll card in with you to vote, the one you get in the post, but speaking as a poll clerk, please do. It makes it so much easier and quicker finding the voter on the list!

I always do Telling, (unpaid) starting at 7 o'clock, checking the numbers of voters so that they are not bothered by phone calls from different parties to ensure they have voted. Recently, for some reason we are not allowed on the premises where the voting takes place at all and have to stand outside in the pouring rain. This is not the room where voting takes place, where the paid officials sit in warmth and comfort, but in any other part of the building, such as the entrance hall, corridor, lobby or spare room. Initiated by a jobsworth.
And I hope someone has a word with the people who check ID; some resentment at the personal remarks about changed appearance, ageing, lack of hair etc.
Unprofessional.

eazybee

Speaking as a poll clerk (see above post), who is first port of call checking I/D, I wouldn’t dream of commenting on anyone’s appearance. The rules are very clear, it doesn’t matter if the passport, driving licence etc is out-of-date or cancelled, as long as the voter is still recognisable from the picture, that is sufficient. You should just ask to see it, look and check, hand it back, say ‘thank you’ and carry on

My late DH and l did both PC and PO together for many years as l worked for a LA. We always managed to get the same village hall in the country.
We were able to take Finn with us as well as there was a place for his bed and small fenced in garden for him. He didn't need to be in contact with the public.
As GMS said though it could be very boring as most of the of the time it wasn't busy.

easybee it has been the case for many years that in my constituency Tellers cannot be in the room where votes are cast. It came about as some Tellers were harassing voters and trying to influence which way they voted (many Tellers had an affiliation with a particular party and were placed there by their party.) I think they were banished to try to show voters that they were not officials of the Returning Officer.

Presiding Officer, did it a few times. Well paid, but a long day. X

I didn't get paid any extra on top of LA salary.

That was a long time ago.

I was an invigilator for two or three years when I was in the Liberal party.
Great fun...

Callistemon21

I didn't get paid any extra on top of LA salary.

That was a long time ago.

Oh that's naughty - we were paid on top of our salary and didn't have to book the day off as a holiday.

I worked as a Poll Clerk many years ago when I was a teacher and my school was closed for the day. At that time females could only be Poll Clerks and not Presiding Officers which I thought was unfair as there was a payment difference and mine was fairly useless!

I did Poll Clerk earlier this year and was contacted yesterday re my availability for 4th July. I enjoyed the experience. I think who else is doing the job is key to whether you enjoy or endure the very long day. Fortunately, the other staff were lovely, efficient and hard working, we also had a laugh. Looking forward to the 4th.

I 'clerked' several times years ago. Always in my own village and with a lady I knew as the officer. I enjoyed it, despite the long day and the swollen ankles. I knew nearly everyone who came in and we always looked for a certain person who wanted to be the last voter at the last minute. We were in the schoolroom of the Chapel and my colleague did get freaked out a bit when the undertakers brought in a coffin, ready for a funeral the next day. (It wasn't in the room we were in but she didn't like the fact that she knew it was there. I didn't mind as I knew the deceased.)