Working at Elections
Have you ever thought about working at a polling station or helping to count the votes at an election or referendum?
Our Elections Office is always looking to recruit motivated and enthusiastic staff. Please contact us if you are interested in becoming involved.
Working at a polling station
Polling station staff are responsible for making sure voting procedures are followed when issuing ballot papers. On polling day, staff must have their polling station set up and ready to open for 7am, working through the day until just after the polls close at 10pm.
All staff employed to work at a polling station must take part in a training session before taking up their appointment. Details of the training will be advised prior to the date of the poll.
Available roles:
Presiding Officer No.1
Working at the count
Staff are employed to assist in manually counting the votes on ballot papers as enumerators and count supervisors. Depending on the election, counting may take place straight after the polls close (10pm on polling day) or on the following day.
Major election counts are usually held at Elgin Town Hall. We also have other roles assisting around the count in logistics and security.
Available roles:
For Local Government elections there is an ECount
Postal Votes
For the two weeks in the run up to an election we employ staff to open and process the postal votes received. Staff will be work on a rota and may not be required every day.
Available Roles:
Postal Vote Verification Assistant
Other roles:
There are also additional roles that could be available - see below for the details.
Election Assistant - General Duties
Eligibility
To work at elections, you must:
• be at least 18 years old to work at a polling station or overnight count
• be at least 16 years old to work at a daytime count or processing postal votes
• be entitled to work in the UK (in accordance with the Asylum and Immigration Act 2006)
• not work on behalf of a candidate during the election or as part of a referendum campaign
• not be related to a potential candidate
• consent to working in excess of normal working hours outlined in the working time directive
• comply with secrecy requirements which will be supplied to all staff
How to apply
Please read the descriptions of the jobs we have available, then complete and return an application form available here & guidance notes
• Return the paper application form to Elections Office, Moray Council, Council Offices, High Street, Elgin IV30 1BX
• or email a scanned copy to elections@moray.gov.uk
If you have any questions please email elections@moray.gov.uk or call 01343 563334 and leave a message with our contact centre, a member of our team will call you back.
More information
For more information about working at elections, please see our Staff FAQs.