At the appointed time for staff to report for duty, the voting station manager should:
• check which staff are present and also check their contract or accreditation documentation;
• contact the local administration office to advise of staff who have not reported for duty and seek replacements;
• allocate the specific duties (or reinforce prior instruction) to each staff member;
• be aware of staff who have never worked in a voting station so that extra supervisory attention can be paid to them during the initial hours of voting;
• ensure that all staff are wearing their identity badges or other means of identification.
Briefing for Staff
It is also preferable that the voting station manager gives a final briefing to staff prior to the commencement of voting. This reinforcement of procedures and any special information regarding the voting station can be of great assistance in minimising errors, particularly early in the day when there may be many conflicting calls on the voting station manager's time. The briefing should cover:
• introduction of supervising staff;
• reinforcement that staff's role is to provide quality service to electors;
• any late instructions or procedural changes received from the electoral management body;
• reinforcement of basic voting procedures—and security; secrecy of voting; voter eligibility checks, such as underage voters ; integrity controls on and methods of issuing ballots; location of spare materials; controlling voter traffic flow; voter, voting staff, party and candidate representative, and observer rights and responsibilities;
• maintaining the cleanliness of the voting station;
• specific characteristics of the voters likely to attend the voting station--age, nationality, language, and the like--and how these may impact staff's performance of their duties;
• facilities in the voting station, such as toilets, washroom facilities, drinks, rest areas;
• rosters for staff breaks;
• emergency procedures;
• reminder of any administrative requirements for staff, for example, signing of attendance record, completion of payroll sheets, or transport arrangements.
In the interests of transparency (and also to use time efficiently by pre-empting potential individual questions), any party or candidate representatives and observers present at the voting station should be invited to listen to the staff briefing.
