Working at Elections

Job Roles

There are a variety of jobs required to run an election:

Polling Stations - Polling station staff have responsibility for the 'conduct of the ballot' and ensuring an accessible and secure vote from their station. Staff will usually work from 06:30 to 22:30pm and are not allowed to leave the station during these hours.

The Verification and Count - Staff count and check votes following the close of polls. These can be overnight and hours can be long.

Postal Vote Opening - Staff help to open postal votes and process ballots in accordance with the election timetable.

For detail on the type of jobs available please refer to the job description document attached to this page.

How to Apply

Please be aware that we are not accepting applications to work at the Parliamentary General Election on 4th July at this time. 

Once you have read the job descriptions mentioned above you can contact the Elections Team to register your interest and we will send you a registration email for MEA, our staffing portal. You can contact the Election Team using the details here.

Once you have completed your registration on MEA the Election Team will make contact with you before each election to ask if you are interested in a job and to confirm arrangements and rates of pay. Please be aware that we aim start our recruitment processes 4 or 5 months before the date of each planned election. 

You can ask to be removed from our database at any time.

Eligibility

• You must be at least 18 years of age to work in a polling station or as a counting assistant.
• You will need to provide your National Insurance number, and either your original passport or relevant supporting information which confirms you are entitled to work in the UK.
• If you are registered unemployed, you are advised to consult your local unemployment benefits office before you accept any offer of employment we may make you.
• Polling and count staff must not work on behalf of a candidate during an election campaign. Staff will need to declare if they are related to or have an association with a prospective candidate, their political group or agent.

Rate of Pay

The rates of pay vary depending on the job role and the type of election, the Election Team would confirm this with you when we make contact to ask if you are interested in working.