Standard Staffing Profiles
Staffing needs for voting operations will be more effectively determined, particularly in allocation of staff to voting stations and for ballot counts, if a set of common standards is developed that:
- define the service level targets on which staff duties and staffing numbers are based;
- determine different categories of staff that will be required (see Staff Categories and Duties);
- define standard functions and duties to be undertaken by each category of staff (see Staff Categories and Duties);
- provide a standard schedule of the number of staff that will be required in relation to the workloads estimated at each voting station, for other voting facilities provided, and for any administrative or logistical assistance required.
The Need for Common Standards
Leaving staff categories, staffing levels, and service standards for voters wholly to the discretion of individual local electoral administrators or voting station managers is highly likely to lead to:
- inconsistencies in voter service and local variations in implementation of standard election procedures to fit the type and number of staff engaged;
- inefficiencies in staff usage, either through engaging too many staff for the tasks to be undertaken or numbers of voter to be serviced, or through excessive attempts to cut costs by reducing the staffing levels below what is required to undertake relevant tasks effectively.
Regulation of Staffing Profiles
It would be normal for electoral legislation to define a basis for the staffing framework and staff functions for voting stations and voting administration (see Voting Organisation). This is necessary to determine legal accountabilities of staff in the voting process. In some jurisdictions, very detailed standards are included in electoral legislation or regulations, e.g., for all staff categories that may be employed, staffing numbers per voting station, and similar specifications. This may be appropriate in environments where electoral management bodies are relatively new or weak, or where there is little history of integrity in administrative service to democratic ideals.
However, this is a relatively inflexible approach which can lead to inefficiencies. It would be generally preferable to leave the detail of staffing profiles to the electoral management body through its issuing of administrative directions.
This will provide greater ability to respond to differences in local conditions. Voting stations of similar size in different areas can often have different needs in terms of the types of staff and numbers of staff employed, according to the linguistic, cultural, age, and educational levels of the voters in the voting station. Some facility for approval of variations to standard staffing profiles in particular voting stations is useful to promote both cost-effectiveness and ensure services provided meet the local population's needs.
While such flexibility allows the electoral management body to more rapidly implement efficiencies in procedures or systems that affect staffing numbers and functions, it requires robust management control. Departures from standard profiles must still meet the base requirements of the legal framework and should be subject to approval from election administrators.
Environmental Effects on Staffing Needs
While there is a common need for standard staffing profiles to enhance effectiveness, the actual staffing profiles, functions, and service levels for voting operations will vary among election environments. There is no universal 'best' staffing profile. Appropriate determination of how many staff are required and what they should be recruited and trained to do is dependent on a number of other interdependent variables in the election process. Significant amongst these are:
- The election system. The complexity of the system of voting, and the familiarity of voters with the voting system and procedures will affect both voters potential information needs in voting stations and the time they take to cast their votes. This will affect both the overall numbers of staff and the staff category mix required in voting facilities.
- The number of voting facilities provided and any restrictions on their size. The basic determinant of staffing resources required will be the number of voters to be serviced--not just in total, but with regard to each voting facility. Staffing costs can be contained by providing a lesser number of larger voting facilities, up to a point. Determining the appropriate number of voters that a voting facility can effectively service is one of the critical issues for effective voting operations management, and it will vary in different procedural, societal, and management quality environments (see Locations of Voting Sites).
- The voting procedures adopted. Procedures adopted for controlling voters within the voting station (see Crowd and Queue Control), determining voter eligibility (see Determination of Eligibility to Vote), issuing of voting materials (see Issue and Casting of Ballots), dealing with unregistered voters (see Voters Not Found on Voters Lists), providing voter information (see Providing Information to Voters), and any arrangements for special voting facilities will determine the functions of staff and any useful separate categories of staff, and have a large bearing on the numbers of staff required in voting facilities.
- The basis for employing staff, whether as independent officials or, as in some jurisdictions, counter balancing representatives of different political sectors of society. (For further discussion of this issue, see Transparency in Recruitment). Different staffing profiles will also be required between models that use a hierarchical organisation of staff in voting facilities, with a defined management structure, and those that use a consensus model, where all staff have equal responsibility.
- Effectiveness of public information campaigns on voting procedures (see Voter Information). All other things being equal, better informed voters will generally require a lower staff-to-voter ratio in voting facilities.
- Election calendars. Compressed time frames, whether for the voting period or for production and distribution of materials before voting day activities, will generally increase the need for temporary administrative assistance in electoral management body offices.
- Count locations and procedures--whether ballot counts are to take place at voting stations or at more centralised facilities and the deadline for their completion will affect the ability to use voting station staff for the count. Decisions in this regard will impact on the numbers of staff required overall, the skills required of voting station staff, and the framework of training (see Training of Voting Operations Staff).
In relation to staffing of voting stations:
For issues relevant to developing staffing profiles for other voting operations functions, see Other Voting Operations Staff.
Staffing Costs
Except in situations where polling staff are compelled to undertake their duties as an unpaid civic duty, staffing of voting stations will be a significant, if not the largest, cost component of the whole voting process (see Budget Line Item Considerations and Finance). Cost-effectiveness in voting station staffing will therefore have a large impact on the overall cost-effectiveness of the election. It is very important for legislators and election administrators to recognise this fact when determining election frameworks and procedures. Most aspects of the election process will have an impact on the cost of voting station staffing.
