What it takes to organise a General Election

Election night aficionados will be familiar with the scene –  picture a leisure centre sports hall with bleary-eyed counters being overlooked by rosetted party staff.
Then, sometimes long after the sun has risen, a victor is announced with his or her political opponents’ dreams left in tatters for another five years.
But while Election day may be an inconvenience for many (and not only Brenda from Bristol), the right to vote is a crucial democratic exercise that saw some take the ultimate sacrifice to secure.
Organising such public polls are no mean feat, however, requiring an army of staff willing to work through the day and night to ensure that democracy prevails.
Additional challenges have been presented this time due to the relative short notice – the second such poll in three years –  as opposed to recent Welsh Assembly, European and local Elections when the date was known well in advance.
On Anglesey, the council’s Electoral Services team is responsible for organising all elections on the island – from sending out household enquiry forms to making sure that people are registered to vote, to running the count centre on polling night.
But while it may be north Wales’ smallest authority, the cost of holding a General Election still exceeds six figures – a figure that will be repaid by central Government.
The total paid from the Government’s Consolidated Fund for the costs of the May 2015 UK Parliamentary general election was £114.7m, while 2017’s snap election cost £140m.
This covers the booking of venues, paying staff, organising the printing and delivery of postal ballots, and make sure an effective election is run to guidelines that are set nationally.
But the operation goes deeper than dedicated Election staff alone,  with other departments including communications and IT putting in the hours to ensure a smooth process and accommodating the assembled media to cover what has tended to be a volatile and marginal constituency.
“The task of organizing a parliamentary election is a substantial one,” said  Annwen Morgan, the council’s Chief Executive and Acting Returning Officer.
“A considerable amount of detailed organizing work is required over a short period of time for the electoral staff.
“And there must be enough staff and polling stations.”
51,925 have registered to vote on the island with 10,000 expected to do so via post.
But even for a constituency the size of Ynys Môn, an army of 150 staff are needed to man the island’s 67 polling stations which, by law, are required to stay open from 7am to 10pm.
And then, for the second portion of the democratic process, another 60 members of staff will be needed for the crucial count at Llangefni’s Plas Arthur leisure centre – a process that’s likely to could creep past 3am or even later if the result is close and recounts are needed.
According to Mrs Morgan for many, however, it ends up being a 24 hour day.
But even at that time of morning, there is no time to bask in the glory of playing part in the UK’s biggest democratic exercise – given that gym users will be expecting to use their local sports hall before hitting work.
“It’s a long day for the team organizing an election – the team usually starts working at 6am in the morning until about 5am the following morning,” she concluded.
“But it doesn’t even finish when the count’s over as, remember, everything in the sports hall needs to be cleared for users on Friday morning!”

By Gareth Williams – Local Democracy Reporter