To ensure that voters can have confidence that their votes will be counted in the way they intended, you will need to put in place appropriate staff resources to ensure the verification and count are timely.
Decisions on when the verification will commence may have staffing implications, and you will need to plan accordingly.
It is important you ensure there are the right number of competent, skilled and knowledgeable staff – and that each member of staff is clear about their role – so that the count is run efficiently and effectively and according to the principles for an effective verification and count. You should also ensure there is an appropriate number of reserve staff in case of staff absence on the day of the count.
You should consider appointing:
senior staff to assist with the overall operation and co-ordination of processes and the calculation of the result
staff and supervisors to deal with the secure transportation of the sealed boxes of postal ballot papers to the verification venue
staff and supervisors to deal with the receipt of polling station materials and postal votes
staff and supervisors to deal with the final opening of postal votes
staff and supervisors to deal with the verification of used and unused ballot papers, spoilt ballot papers and the tendered votes list
staff and supervisors to deal with the sorting and counting of votes
porters, security staff and door attendants to deal with the security of the site
person(s) with knowledge of the site to deal with the management of the facilities within and around the site
responsible officer(s) to oversee the security of ballot boxes and relevant stationery where there is a break in proceedings
experienced media liaison staff
any other members of staff you consider necessary
While it may not be realistic to expect all verification and count staff to be fully utilised at every stage of the verification and count process, a responsive management plan which monitors activity levels and allows for reallocation of resources could reduce the length of time taken to complete key stages of the process.
For processes commenced immediately following the close of poll you should, wherever possible, not use staff who have been on polling duty all day.
You must not appoint any person who has been employed by or on behalf of a candidate or registered political party in or about the election.1
If you are also the RRO, you should also identify your staffing requirements for the collation of the regional results and the allocation of the regional seats, and make the necessary appointments. In order to effectively manage the results collation process, a protocol should be put in place as necessary for the transmission and receipt of the regional results. This protocol will, in turn, inform your staffing requirements.