I was first invited to work at the polling booths when I went to work in local government thirty odd years ago and have rarely missed an election, even now that I'm retired from local government and self employed, be it European, British or Scottish parliamentary elections, referenda, or local council elections. Yes the pay is good but for a parliamentary election we need to be at the polling station by 06:30 to set up for 07:00 opening and after we close at 22:00, as a presiding officer I have to do paperwork and deliver the ballot box to the police station so not home till 23:00, even later if you have been posted to a rough area where at the end of the working day you find that the local kids have let down all the tyres on your car and you have to get to work with a footpump as has happened to me once. Also we are told not to wear anything which may suggest preference for one political group over another so I never go kilted to election duty as this could be construed as support for the Scottish Nationalist Party.
Regional Director for Scotland for Clan Cunningham International, and a Scottish Armiger.
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