Guidance for Returning Officers administering a Senedd election

It is for you to consider each polling station individually and make and decisions about allocating staff and electors accordingly.

We recommend the following ratios when allocating electors and staff to polling stations:

• a polling station should not have more than 2,500 electors allocated to it
• in addition to a Presiding Officer, there should be one Poll Clerk for polling stations with up to 750 electors
• one additional Poll Clerk should be appointed for polling stations with up to 1,500 electors
• one further Poll Clerk should be appointed to a polling station with up to the maximum of 2,500 electors

These ratios are guidance only, they are not mandatory. You should also have regard to any directions or recommendations issued by the EMB.

When making decisions on the allocation of electors and staff to polling stations, you should fully consider the particular circumstances of each polling station and the needs of your electorate as a whole, and document the reasoning behind the decisions you make.

As a minimum you should consider:

• the likely number of first-time-voters at a Senedd election, including 16 and 17 year olds and qualifying foreign nationals, who may need to have the voting process explained to them
• any particular local circumstances such as population increases (for example, due to any new housing developments since your last polling place review) and demographic trends
• levels of postal voters
• the potential for late engagement including any local or national issues which may affect the turnout and interest in the election – as a minimum you should assume that the turnout will be not less than the last equivalent polls
• the spread of voters during the day – for example, if recent trends show a large number of voters attending the station in the morning, ensure your staffing ratios allow for this and will prevent large queues from forming
• additional support electors may need understanding any recent changes to the electoral process
• how the voter will move through the voting process from entering to exiting the polling station, taking into account the polling station size and layout

This list is not exhaustive, and you should also consider any other factors that you consider appropriate.

Our accessibility guidance contains additional factors to consider when planning staffing levels at the polling station. Each decision should be taken on a case-by-case basis and not for the constituency as a whole.

As well as keeping a record of decisions made you should maintain a plan which ensures you are able to respond to issues, for example dealing with a queue at one or more polling stations in your area at particularly busy times such as traditionally after work rush, or in the run up to close of poll at 10pm. Voters in a queue at their polling station at 10pm must be issued with their ballot paper.1

Polling station inspectors

As well as making decisions on the number of polling station staff you will need, you should also ensure that you have sufficient numbers of polling station inspectors to support the delivery of the poll in your area. In making your decision, you should consider factors such as your local geography and the experience of polling station staff in each polling place.

More information can be found in our guidance appointment of polling station inspectors.

Examples of staff deployment at a polling station

There are different options open to you for deploying staff within polling stations. Your plans should be sufficiently flexible to allow you to deploy staff to respond to specific issues or needs that may arise throughout polling day.

Here are some examples:

• if you have one Presiding Officer with two additional staff allocated to a polling station, all three staff should be trained to be involved in the issuing process. While two staff members carry out the issuing process, the other could act as an information officer to provide advice and assistance to voters as required
• if the polling place contains multiple polling stations, a member of staff could be used as an information officer covering all of the polling stations and to assist with directing voters to the correct polling station and providing advice and assistance as required
• staff from one polling station in the polling place could also be used to assist staff in another polling station within that building if required, for example as a result of a high number of voters attending one of the stations at a particular time when the other station is quiet

You may also consider appointing a team of back-up polling station staff to be deployed flexibly as needed, such as at peak times or in the run-up to close of poll, or to respond to particular issues that may arise throughout polling day. For example, you could base extra staff at the largest/busiest polling place you have in an area and deploy them to other stations in the area when needed.

If parts of the constituency are not easily accessible, you could find it helpful to have teams positioned in different parts of the area.

You will also need to think about how to train staff so that you can deploy them flexibly on polling day. For more information see our guidance training presiding officers, poll clerks and polling station inspectors.