Elections Staff

The Returning Officer for Lancaster City Council is seeking applications of interest from members of the public who wish to be part of a pool of casual staff to work on election day.

At every major election the Returning Officer relies on dedicated additional staff to support the democratic process and allow electors to cast their vote. The vital role played by polling station staff ensures that voters can cast their vote in secret, free from influence and in a calm and professional atmosphere.

Applications are welcome from anyone over the age of 18 who has the right to work in the UK.

All staff employed by the Returning Officer must be absolutely impartial and will be required to sign a statement to confirm that they are not a member of a political party and that they must not and will not canvass for, assist or openly support a campaign for a particular political party or candidate at the election.

A UK Parliamentary General Election will take place on Thursday 4 July 2024.

Lancaster will be running the elections for a Member of Parliament for both the Lancaster and Wyre and Morecambe and Lunesdale Parliamentary Constituencies.

Please email [email protected] once you have read the additional information attached and we will send you further documents to complete.

Existing election staff need not reply to this advert.

Recruitment of Poll Clerks to work for the Acting Returning Officer, Lancaster City Council

The Acting Returning Officer will recruit over 300 staff to work in polling stations on election day. We welcome applications from anyone over the age of 18 who is not a member of a political party.

• A poll clerk works in a polling station under the guidance of a presiding officer.
• A poll clerk will check that an elector is included on the register of electors, check ID and issue a ballot paper.
• We have over 100 polling stations across the Lancaster district and will try, where possible, to place you at a polling station close to your home. If you are able to travel we can place you further afield and there may be more employment opportunities available to you.
• Polling hours are 7am to 10pm, so you will need to be at the polling station from 6.30am and will be able to leave once everything is packed up and cleared away (by 10.30pm at the very latest).
• You will need to provide an email address as part of your application, and be able to complete online training which is a requirement of your appointment.
• The Returning Officer has a different payroll to the City Council. Once you have completed an application to work on elections, you will be asked to provide copies of documents to verify you have the right to work in the UK.
• Being on the database of staff does not guarantee an offer of employment.
• The fee for employment as a poll clerk at the last election was £194.48.

Recruitment of Count Assistants to work for the Acting Returning Officer, Lancaster City Council

The Acting Returning Officer will recruit over 100 staff to count the votes cast at the UK Parliamentary General Election on Thursday 4 July 2024

The counting of votes commences at 22:00 hours on Thursday 4 July and should be concluded around 05:00 hours on Friday 5 July. The length of time taken to count varies depending on the number of ballot papers marked by voters. Anyone over the age of 18 who is not a member of a political party will be considered for the role.

• Count assistants will work need to be prepared to work overnight and be part of a team working under the guidance of a count team leader and supervisor.
• Count assistants will first check the number of ballot papers in each ballot box to ensure the number in the box matches the number issued by the presiding officer. This is called verification.
• Once verification is complete, count assistants then move to count the votes. This is done by separating the ballot papers into piles for each candidate before collating bundles of 10 ballot papers, ensuring votes for only one of the candidates is in each bundle.
• Once the counting of votes is complete and the result declared, the count is concluded and count assistants will be released to go home.
• Count assistants will help deliver an accurate result.

An email address is essential as most of our communications will be sent to you by email. Once we have assessed your application we will contact you again, but please note that acceptance of your application to join our database does not guarantee employment.

Job Type: Zero hours contract

Pay: £194.48 per day

Work Location: In person

Reference ID: Elections