Service Spotlight: Curious about what goes on behind the scenes of elections?

We are a small and busy team which organise all elections in South Staffordshire. Whether that is a by-election for a parish ward, the local elections which take place every four years or a general election which must be held at least every 5 years. When elections take place, they take months of preparation and planning (unless it’s a snap election) and so it doesn’t all happen over a few days. When the election results are declared, and you see the end product of your hard work. Although elections, verification and the count can be long days and evenings, for the team, the process has been happening for months. There’s nothing quite like the buzz and atmosphere of the count. It’s amazing!  

Once an election comes to an end, it means we start getting ready for the next one. This includes auditing all the polling station paperwork, equipment, signage to ensure everything is there and ready to go whether it is scheduled in or not. 

And it’s not just the elections. We also keep South Staffordshire’s electoral register up to date by co-ordinating an annual check called the canvass. It aims to ensure everyone who needs to be on the register is on there and their details are accurate. You can’t have an election without having an up-to-date register. The two very much go hand in hand. 

The team also carries out the annual absent vote signature refresh. This is when we contact everyone with a proxy or postal vote whose signature has been on our system every three years. Due to new legislation, this will involve contacting around 11,000 people before January 2026. 

Moreover, we have also recently undertaken a Polling District Review in 2023. We have a large number of polling districts, places and stations which were reviewed following changes to the district ward boundaries which came into effect for the local elections in May 2023. 

There are also other things which crop up throughout the year such as unplanned by-elections and neighbourhood planning referendums, with Kinver being the most recent. 

So, although organising elections is a large part of the job, it’s not the only thing we do and is one of the biggest misconceptions.  

There have been a few changes recently including individual registration. This was introduced in 2014 and means people can now only register themselves to vote rather than the whole household. 

The most recent and major change is the introduction of photo ID which is part of the Elections Act 2022. The change has meant people visiting polling stations going forward must bring an accepted form of photo ID with them.  

It was a major change, and residents are always being encouraged to check they have an accepted form of ID. If they don’t then they can apply for a Voter Authority Certificate which is free of charge and can only be used for elections. 

We start at 6am and are on standby in case issues crop up at one of the 81 polling stations across the district. Around 300 people are employed specifically to work in the polling stations so this could include temporary staff being unable to get into the polling station, potentially not turning up or calling in sick. Polls open at 7am and the first few hours are always busy with a wide range of queries. There’s a lot of problem solving with peaks and troughs throughout the day.  

We’ll set up the verification and count venue (now at the council offices in Codsall) for 10pm which is the same time as the polls close. The verification process is the counting of the total number of ballots cast in each election. This stage must be completed before a count can commence. This is all overseen by Dave Heywood, our chief executive, in his role as the ‘returning officer’ for elections. The count can take a while depending on the election. For example, multi- member district and parish elections can take all day and into the night. 

During the verification and count, the team all have different roles to ensure the next stages of the election run smoothly. 

I’ll be floating between tables to solve any issues that may crop up or to offer assistance if required. A member of the team may be assisting with counting, on the top table and others will be head counters. The team end up running about over the couple of days leading into and during the election and you definitely reach your daily step target in a few hours. 

If you would like to help to run elections and work at any of the range of roles available, please visit our webpage: https://www.sstaffs.gov.uk/our-council/voting-and-elections/voting-and-elections/voting-and-elections/voting-and-elections-7.  

Let’s talk about the pencils at polling stations! It is traditional to use pencils, but this tradition has remained because they are cheaper, more practical and last longer. However, this isn’t to say people can’t bring along their own pen to a polling station. There are lots of checks in place including seals on ballot boxes which are checked at the verification and count. 

People also think that because they’ve notified the Council Tax department that they’ve moved house, the electoral register is automatically updated. However, this isn’t the case. Someone living with their parents may be eligible to vote but may not be liable for Council Tax and therefore we can’t always rely on other sets of data. That’s why the annual check of the electoral register is essential to ensure it is kept up to date.