Voting Station Managers
It is preferable to appoint a person to be responsible for all operations at a voting station--and under most legal frameworks for voting, this is a requirement--whether the position is defined as a voting station manager, a chairperson of a voting station election commission, the assistant returning officer for the voting station, the presiding officer for the voting station, or the like.
Defining a single accountability point provides an appropriate focus for information flow between the election administration and the voting station, and holds a polling official legally accountable for voting station operations. Functions that would be appropriate to formally delegate to the voting station manager include:
- inspection of the voting station to ensure that it meets required standards and to become familiar with the characteristics of the location (see Locations of Voting Sites);
- ensuring that all materials and equipment required for the voting station have arrived on schedule;
- set-up of the voting station according to the approved layouts, preferably on the day before voting day, with assistance from other staff;
- ensuring that the voting station opens and closes at the correct times (see Preparations for Commencement of Voting and Close of Voting);
- management of the voting station's polling officials during the hours of voting (for discussion of voting hours management responsibilities, see Voting Station Staff Management and Crisis Management);
- dealing with party or candidate representatives and observers in the voting station (see Role of Party/Candidate Representatives), and liaison with security forces (see Security in Voting Stations);
- communications with the election administration on voting progress and any difficulties encountered, and receipt of instructions for voting station activity;
- dealing with more complex voter information requests;
- providing any special facilities that require the intervention of senior polling staff--such as recording objections or challenges to voters, overseeing or assisting with assisted votes, dealing with unregistered voters who claim to be eligible to vote, controlling voting day registration services (these responsibilities would normally be defined in the legal framework for voting operations);
- implementation, with the assistance of other staff, of close of voting procedures, sorting and packaging of all material for the count, and for return of material to the electoral management body (see Close of Voting);
- compiling and endorsing all required voting station records and completing management and operational reports on voting station activity (see Close of Voting);
- where counts are conducted at voting stations following the close of voting, managing the count (see Vote Counting at Polling Stations).
In low security-risk environments where private transport is common, allowing voting station managers to be responsible for the transportation of voting materials, apart from bulky equipment such as voting compartments or electronic voting machines, to and from the voting station, can be a cost-effective measure. (For further discussion of distribution of voting station materials, see Delivering Voting Site Resources.)
Where full cascade models for training are implemented (see Training Methodology), voting station managers could also be responsible for training the staff of their voting station. Under some circumstances, particularly in rural areas where the election administration has no local presence, they could also assist with recruitment of their voting station staff. Where voting station managers are required to undertake duties prior to voting day--such as inspection of sites, staff recruitment and training, materials collection and transport, and set-up of voting station materials and equipment--payments for their duties should include a supplement for these responsibilities.
Deputy Voting Station Managers
Particularly in larger voting stations, it is prudent to formally appoint a polling official as deputy to the voting station manager, both to assist in the management of voting processes and to act as a substitute manager of the voting station when required. In many systems, the voting station manager holds legal responsibilities which only the holder of that position may undertake. In such circumstances, it is essential that provision be made for a designated polling official to take over in this management role in the absence of the voting station manager.
Deputy voting station managers, in addition to assisting the voting station manager in supervisory duties during voting, could be assigned such duties as:
- dealing with information requests;
- dealing with assisted voters;
- supervising any special voting facilities provided;
- assisting the voting station manager with any duties before voting day.
Where voting station managers undergo additional training, their deputies would preferably be trained to the same standard.
