Working at elections

We are looking for people who are interested in joining our pool of casual election staff.

At every election, we rely on dedicated additional staff to support the democratic process. These staff play vital roles to help us run elections smoothly.

If we accept you onto our database, we may contact you about election specific roles as and when they arise. However, that does not guarantee we will offer you a post.

You must not work on behalf of a candidate or political party during an election campaign, nor be related to a prospective candidate.

Presiding Officer

Presiding Officers are experienced polling station staff with a comprehensive knowledge of the voting process and electoral law. They must also manage a small team of Poll Clerks.

Poll Clerks

This role assists the Presiding Officer with the running of the polling station. They answer elector's questions and hand out ballot papers.

Count Assistants

Count Assistants verify the ballot papers and before sorting and counting. For the May 2023 elections, the count will take place on Friday 5 May. This means staff who worked at the polling station on the previous day will be eligible to also work at the count.

You must be at least:

18 years old to work in a polling station
16 years old to work as a counting assistant

For elections, it is the Returning Officer who employs casual election staff, rather than Chelmsford City Council. Therefore, the Council's employee terms and conditions do not apply, nor is there access to the Local Government Pension Scheme.

We pay election roles on a Pay as You Earn (PAYE) basis, which means that tax is deducted from earnings. If you are not a taxpayer, you are responsible for claiming the tax back from HMRC.

Any work that you do may affect:

any state pension you receive
any benefits you receive
how much tax you must pay

You must tell HMRC or your pension/benefit provider about your earnings.