Voting Operations

Topic IndexVote Counting Staff

Basic Issues Basic issues to be considered in relation to vote counting staff include:

whether counts are to be conducted at the voting stations (see Vote Counting at Polling Stations) or at separate counting centres (see Vote Counting at Counting Centres);
the organisation of vote counting teams and the number of staff required to process the count within the time frames allotted, which will often be short and strictly defined in the legal framework (see Vote Counting at Polling Stations and Vote Counting at Counting Centres);
whether staff who have been engaged as polling officials should also be required to undertake the count or whether separate officials should be engaged specifically for this purpose.

Use of Polling Officials Factors supporting the use of polling officials for the count include:

polling officials have had intensive experience with the voting materials;
there will be additional overhead costs attributable to the engagement of additional staff;
it may not be possible to engage sufficient additional appropriately skilled staff for the count and train them within the time frames available.

If counting takes place at voting stations, to bring on a new shift of officials specifically for the count will significantly increase staffing and training costs. Even if counting takes place at centralised counting centres, the additional staff requirements will be substantial. However, there are some significant negative aspects. Polling officials will have already worked a long day by the time the count commences, and their fatigue levels can affect the quality of the count. While it is often the practice, particularly where counts are conducted at voting stations, for the polling officials to count the ballots, this requires careful consideration as to whether it is, overall, the most effective course. If polling officials are to be used for the count, provision for the engagement of some additional, short-term staff, to assist in re-organising the voting station layout for the count, should be considered, in order to give polling officials a break before the count commences (see Preparation for Ballot Count). If counts are conducted at separate count centres, it may also be difficult to use polling officials as count officials, depending on such considerations as:

the time at which counts are scheduled to commence;
the time taken for completion of voting station activity after close of voting;
the location of the count centre in relation to voting stations.

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Voting Operations