With the unexpected announcement of a snap general election in just six weeks’ time, an extensive election machinery needs to be cranked into action three years earlier than planned.
Given that local elections were already taking place in many areas in May, this might not seem such a big deal, but for returning officers all over the country a general election is always something else entirely.
As chief executive of Sunderland City council from 2008–15 I oversaw two general elections as the returning officer. With Sunderland having been the first area to declare a general election result in 1992 and then retaining this “accolade” ever since, I inherited both a well-oiled elections infrastructure and an unbroken track record that I was determined to hold on to.
For me it went beyond personal and civic pride; it was about the whole Sunderland elections team and the hundreds of local people working before and during the count; what it meant to them personally and to them as a city.
The number of people involved in Sunderland’s election count, and the detail of the planning that goes into the process, is extraordinary. It’s like a military operation, with every second and minute being accounted for from the moment the polling station closes to the moment we count the ballot papers and declared the results.
It’s a huge undertaking across the country and there are literally thousands of people from all walks of life who once every few years become public servants for the day and do their bit for democracy.
People often approach me out of the blue just to ask about the Sunderland election – it’s astonishing really. I was walking in the Lake District in 2010 and was at the top of Cat Bells when a man approached after recognising me from the general election night broadcast four months earlier! “Is it true you programme the traffic lights to be on green for the vans delivering the ballot boxes?” he asked.
For me the most important thing is an accurate count. There is nothing more important in a democracy than having politicians prepared to stand for election and put themselves through the process on the one hand, and on the other, people turning out to vote.
My intent – like any returning officer – is that for both candidates and constituents we will offer a professionally run election and return an accurate count as quickly and efficiently as we can. All those involved in the election want that same outcome. After all, that’s what being a good public servant is all about.
I always feel a real sense of occasion when it’s a general election and equally a real sense of responsibility. The professionalism of everyone working the election is incredible. People feel part of it and want to contribute.
We train everyone, we work as a huge team and people love working the event – there is a real buzz on the day. The excitement increases as the evening approaches and the polling stations close, with the first boxes in and being counted within minutes.
The media like Sunderland as well – probably because we declare early and provide a talking point. For the last general election we had something like 150 official media accreditations and we had to borrow media officers from local public and private sector partners to help manage the cameras and crews.
I wouldn’t say it’s theatre, but everyone has several dress rehearsals. The students practise running the boxes from the doors of the tennis centre where the count takes place to the counting stations on the sports hall floor. It sounds straightforward, but fill an already large and cumbersome ballot box with hundreds of sheets of paper and it’s not such an easy task when the cameras of the world’s media are trained on you.
The counters practise with different weight paper; as a result of their feedback we even made the ballot papers thinner. We used to use 100gsm paper but now we use 80gsm. The difference is significant – the 80gsm is much more flexible and hence much easier to count.
Marginal gains may be a cliche but they really doadd up. We always looked to tweak processes to try and shave seconds off the times. We have got data for the last 10 years on the time each box has come in from each polling station; we learn from experience, and we are obsessive about the detail.
In 2015 both Sky and the BBC sent presenters up for the count, with Eamonn Holmes and Fiona Bruce both on site for the count. I think even these well-seasoned media professionals were more than just a little impressed by the whole set-up and the staff and volunteers.
Being the professionals they are, they had all the questions including, yet again, the one about the traffic lights. I told them that, like everywhere else, we are controlled by regulations about how a count must be conducted and work within those parameters. We don’t manipulate the traffic lights. They seemed unconvinced.
I wish my colleagues in counts across the country all the best. The results will be the headlines because of the great job public servants do.
Dave Smith is the former chief executive of Sunderland city council
This series aims to give a voice to the staff behind the public services that are hit by mounting cuts and rising demand, and so often denigrated by the press, politicians and public. If you would like to write an article for the series, contact kirstie.brewer@theguardian.com
Talk to us on Twitter via @Guardianpublic and sign up for your free weekly Guardian Public Leaders newsletter with news and analysis sent direct to you every Thursday.
.jpg?w=600)
