You will need to appoint staff to help you to undertake the various election processes. You should identify staffing requirements and put processes in place for recruiting the necessary staff.
Cross-boundary constituencies
In the case of a constituency that covers more than one local authority, staff working on specific election processes are likely to be identified and provided by appointed deputies from any other local authorities and the guidance in this section will also be relevant to them.
You (and if relevant, any deputies) should have access to a database of staff used at previous elections to help with this and should also get advice from the HR team at your council on any external recruitment needs you may have.
Staff can be recruited from among local authority employees. Local authorities must permit their staff to work on the elections.1
When identifying and recruiting staff, you should consider the skills appropriate to each role. For example, those with experience working in finance could be recruited to record the number of unused ballot papers at the count, or to work at postal vote opening sessions to record the daily totals.
As there is no age restriction for staff working on specific election processes, you could liaise with local further and higher education establishments to identify young people who could be recruited to work at polling stations or at the verification and count, which could also help to boost their engagement with the democratic process.
It may be helpful to check that your insurance covers employing staff under the age of 18.