They are the people you don’t notice on voting day, the people you hand your polling card to as you collect your vote. They are the poll clerks.
I’ve worked at my local polling station on and off since I was at university. As a poor student, the idea of getting paid for sitting down and talking to people I knew all day sounded rather appealing. The station itself is my old primary school and it’s always interesting to take a trip down memory lane and see the horrendous photo of nine-year-old me lining the corridors.
The day starts well before polling stations open at 7am. I’m usually expected to arrive at 6.15am, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, to put up the signs to direct voters as they arrive. We receive training for the day as well.
The first voters arrive early - always the same people. They don’t work locally and this is their only opportunity to cast their vote. Generally, they are in and out of the polling station within a minute.
The job itself is straightforward. People’s polling card indicates which section of the station they vote in and everyone takes a turn to direct incoming voters. I love this as it gives me an opportunity to talk to people I went to school with or the parents of old friends who have moved away.
Most of my day is spent sitting at one of the boxes with the presiding officer. In Northern Ireland, the identity of each voter must be checked before they are issued a ballot paper. This can cause problems. Without fail, in each election there will be a handful of people who come to the polling station without valid ID. Some people to get irate about not being able to vote. It can lead to raised voices and threats, but the presiding officer always handles the situation calmly.
Complaints are also, without fail, made about posters and signage for candidates, with claims that they are inches too close to school gates or for no other reason than it’s an opposing candidate.
A slight downside to the day is that I am tied to the polling station. Those working at the station aren’t allowed to leave it until the polls have closed. But I’ve always had time to rest, which is just as well – it’s a long day.
In my breaks, I get to check my phone. We’re not allowed our phones in the station itself and it’s strange to be so disconnected from technology for such a large part of the day.
The police make regular visits to the polling station to make sure everything is ticking over. We must bring enough food to see us through the day and one of my favourite parts of the day is when my cousin sneaks me in a few chocolate bars.
The polls close at 10pm and you see few people in the last hour. Then it’s time to seal the boxes and place all the paperwork in the allotted folders.
Finally, I assist the presiding officer to pack the ballot boxes into the back of their car ready for the drive to the count centre.
Then it’s time to go home for a well-earned rest or to watch the results roll in.
Sarah Arnold is a freelance journalist - and regular polling clerk in Northern Ireland, where voters need to show ID. Voters in England, Scotland and Wales do not need to show ID to vote.
‘It was the fastest 12 hours of my life’ – one polling clerk’s view of the Brexit vote
“I’ve been a polling clerk for about 16 years. We get paid £115 and then get £50 for online training. It’s a good way to earn an extra bit of money every couple of years. It’s great teamwork and I enjoy watching all the people.
“In the Brexit referendum, we were solidly busy all day long. When we opened at 7am, people were queuing. It was the fastest 12 hours of my life. It was brilliant, even though there was hardly a chance to eat.
“We had people coming in with pens, saying they were going to use pens. We pointed out that pens might smudge, but they were insistent. They said with pencil, someone might change their vote. That made us laugh – when would we have time to do that? So we let them carry on. The other thing that was funny was people not even bothering to go into the booth. They were marking their papers in the table in front of us.
“I’d recommend people do this. Councils do struggle to get people. Our local authority decided a couple of years ago to go digital with the training and a lot of the people who used to do it decided not to. So it is now a scramble to find enough people.”
Polling clerk in south-west England. As told to Jane Dudman.
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