Instructions to Presiding Officers and Clerks
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Instructions to Presiding Officers and Clerks General Election Aberdeen North, Aberdeen South Constituencies Prepared and issued on behalf of the Returning Officer Election Unit Aberdeen City Council AB10 1FY April 2017 Copyright © Aberdeen City Council 2017 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduce, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photographic, recording or otherwise) without prior written permission of Aberdeen City Council Points to note about this election, where there are differences from recent polls. This is a “First past the post” election. Voters should mark a single “X” against the single candidate of their choice. While a “1” will be accepted in lieu of a “X” any other mark is likely to lead to rejection of the ballot paper. The voting age is 18 and only those who have no date against their mane in the Register or who have a date which is on or before polling day may vote. You may encounter confused young voters who were entitled to vote in the local government election but not in this one. The franchise letters indicating entitlement to vote are very different: “F” can vote, “E”,”G”, “K”,”L” and “U” cannot. 2 Note: This handbook is issued by the Returning Officer for the Aberdeen North and South Constituencies in relation to the General Election. As such it constitutes instructions to Polling Station staff. While much of the material will be familiar to staff who have worked at recent polls, there are significant differences. This handbook should be read well in advance of polling day and any questions raised with the Election Unit. Staff may wish to supplement their knowledge from publications produced by the Electoral Commission. These publications contain much helpful material and any conflict with the contents of this handbook is very unlikely. It must be remembered, however, that the Electoral Commission has no statutory or other responsibility for the conduct of the election – that is the sole responsibility of the Returning Officer. In case of conflict this handbook or other direct instructions by the Returning Officer must prevail. IN THE POLLING STATION Basic Polling Day Procedures 1.0 OVERVIEW AND INTRODUCTION TO VOTING In this election voters may cast only one vote by marking an X against the name of the candidate of their choice. Unlike Scottish Parliament and European Parliament elections, where there is an element of “party lists” and Local Government elections where the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference, this is a “First Past the Post” election where voters are asked to place a single “X” against one of the candidates – who may represent a political party or be independent. Any other mark on the paper may make it impossible to count the vote as it may be difficult to understand the elector’s intention. The following notes are based on an allocation of one Presiding Officer and one Polling Clerk per station with no Information Officers. AS it is a relatively straightforward poll, it is unlikely that any additional staff will be provided. 3 References to the “Returning Officer” are to the Council’s Chief Executive as Returning Officer who has overall responsibility for the conduct of the Election. For practical purposes most of your contact will be with the Depute Returning Officers in the Election Unit who act with full powers on behalf of the Returning Officer. The early part of this handbook deals with ordinary voting procedures. Less usual situations such as proxy voters or voters with sight difficulties are covered in later sections. 2.0 BEFORE POLLING DAY It is impossible to predict how many voters will choose to vote at your Polling Station – on crude averages and if everyone voted you would have roughly one voter every two minutes but many will have chosen to vote by post; others may choose not to vote, so the number actually voting will be substantially less than the number allocated to the station. Nevertheless there will be periods during the day (often early in the morning) when you will be extremely busy. It is important therefore to plan ahead and be prepared. It is critically important that you are fully aware of your duties and the procedures for which you are responsible. Remember also that work in a Polling Station is not “just another casual job”. You are a statutory officer and the law imposes on you certain rights, responsibilities and duties. In an extreme case, if you fail in these, you may face criminal prosecution. In particular, you have a duty to maintain the secrecy and impartiality of the poll. It is a specific criminal offence to work both for the Returning Officer and a candidate. If, therefore, you have worked (or intend to work) for a candidate or party at this election, even in so menial a role as stuffing envelopes, you cannot work in a Polling Station. Similarly, you must not make any public statements of a political nature, for example on social media 2.1 Location of Polling Station It is important that all Polling Station staff know where their Polling Station is situated. While most polling places will be in their familiar locations, you should not count on this. Details of your Polling Station will have been provided in your letter of appointment. While many Polling Places are schools or community centres with adequate parking in the grounds this cannot be guaranteed. Where parking is on street or in a public car park, there are no exemptions from parking controls for polling staff. Wherever you park, make sure that you do not obstruct access for voters, particularly those with disabilities. 4 Note that in places where there is more than one Polling Station, you should check the station number on your letter of appointment to ensure that you go to the correct station. For example, if the station code is DG0107/1, it is the number 1 station: DG0107/2, the number 2 station and so on. It is imperative that you are not late on Polling Day and arrive in good time to set up and open at exactly 0700hrs. Check the exact location of the Polling Station and the amount of time it will take you to get there from your home. Polling staff are responsible for setting up the Station. This should take no more than 30 minutes although 45 minutes have been allocated. While you should check the location of the building beforehand, you should not make contact with the premises or try to visit the room to be used as a Polling Station. The reason for this prohibition is simple. We rely on a great deal of goodwill from the owners of premises and their caretakers in running the election. In many cases, taking the premises over for polling day causes them real problems in their normal business. They also have to put up with visits from Election Unit staff and make arrangements for the delivery/uplift of equipment, which can be particularly difficult for premises which are run mainly by volunteers and are not open all day every day. To expect them to accommodate additional visits by anything up to a dozen Polling Station staff is simply unreasonable and must not happen. 2.2 Preparing For Polling Day The day of the Election will be a long one for Polling Station staff. Make sure you are prepared, by bringing sufficient food and drink to last the whole day or arrange for supply drops as necessary, as you will not be able to leave the Polling Place. In some cases you may have access to a staff room with a kettle but you should not rely on this. Note that there is no legal entitlement to meal breaks. Obviously you will need to eat and commonsense arrangements need to be made between PO and PCs to allow each other a break at quiet times. Staff must not however leave the grounds of the Polling Place. 3.0 POLLING DAY – BEFORE THE POLLS OPEN The Presiding Officer and the Polling Clerk should arrive at the Polling Station by 6.15am at the latest. If you are unavoidably detained or know that you will be unable to attend your Polling Station, please contact the Election Unit without delay. If your PO/PC has not turned up shortly after 7am, contact the Election Unit. (The Unit will be staffed from 6am on Polling Day and voicemail and e-mail are available at other times.) It is perfectly proper for one person to operate the 5 Polling Station but we will endeavour to provide a replacement as soon as possible. Unless you are in a polling Place with a single Polling Station, please do not contact us about absent staff until 0700. This allows for unexpected traffic delays and allows us (there are only three of us) to concentrate on ensuring that every station can open at the correct time. 3.1 What happens if the Key-Holder to the building does not turn up? Try to contact the key-holder and alert the Election Unit immediately. If you still cannot gain access contact the Election Unit to get instructions - 01224 523521. We have additional contacts for every polling place and have a locksmith on standby to force entry. 3.2 Supplies and Materials All the equipment and materials which you require to set up and operate the Polling Station will have been delivered to the Polling Place in advance.