Polling Day Casual Vacancies

About Vacancies

The Returning Officer for West Lancashire is seeking expressions of interest from members of the public who wish to be part of a pool of casual election staff and considered for casual election related work with the West Lancashire area.

At every election the Returning Officer relies on dedicated additional staff to support the democratic process. Roles include; working in one of the numerous Polling Stations across the Borough as a Presiding Officer or Poll Clerk or working as a Count Assistant; sorting, verifying and counting the votes cast.

Being accepted onto the Returning Officer's database does not guarantee that you will be offered a post, but you may be contacted about election specific roles as and when they arise.

Please note:

Casual Election roles are employed directly by the Returning Officer and NOT West Lancashire Borough Council. Therefore the Council's employee terms and conditions do not apply, nor is there access to the Local Government Pension Scheme
Election roles are paid on a Pay As You Earn (PAYE) basis, which means that tax may be deducted from earnings. If you are not a tax payer you will be responsible for claiming the tax back from HMRC
Any work that you do may affect any state pension or benefit that you receive. You will be responsible for telling your pension or benefit provider about your earnings
Any work that you do may affect how much tax that you are required to pay. You will be responsible for telling HMRC about your earnings

Polling station staff ensure that voters are able to cast their vote in secret, free from influence and in a calm atmosphere. If you are a good communicator, methodical and quick to learn, then apply to join the pool o Casual Elections Staff.

Anyone who has previously undertaken this work and recently updated their contact details with the Returning Officer do not need to submit a fresh declaration of interest.

Casual Roles Available

Presiding Officers

Presiding Officers are experienced polling station staff with a comprehensive knowledge of the voting process and electoral law. They must be able to manage a small team of poll clerks, ensure equal access is provided to all voters, liaise appropriately with tellers, party agents and polling station inspectors and maintain the secrecy of the ballot.

Poll Clerks

Poll Clerks work under the direction of the Presiding Officer. They assist with keeping the polling station clean and tidy, answer elector's questions and hand out ballot papers.

Count Assistant

Once voting is over, ballot papers are taken to the count venue, where they are checked, sorted and counted, by hand. Some counts start at 10pm in the evening, others during weekdays or on Saturdays. Count staff must be able to quickly sort and count ballot papers working under the direction of a Count Supervisor.

Apply

To express an interest in any of these roles, download an Application Form (MS Word, 50.8kb)

Completed application forms should be emailed to elections.staffing@westlancs.gov.uk

If you are unable to return the application form by email, then you can send your completed application form to: West Lancashire Borough Council, Elections Staffing, 52 Derby Street, Ormskirk, Lancashire, L39 2DF.

All applications for vacancies should be submitted by the application method stated. Please note that we do not accept CVs.

This advert will remain open until such time as there are sufficient numbers on our database. As such, depending on the volume of forms received, this advert may be removed at any time.

If you have any questions about anything on this page, or if you need adjustments to the recruitment process in line with the Equality Act 2010, please send us an email at elections.staffing@westlancs.gov.uk or call 01695 585013.

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