Cutbacks at the polling station

Cian92

Does anybody know will the same number of staff be employed in this referendum as in previous referendums? I rang my city sheriff to say I would be interested in moving up from polling clerk to presiding officer and was told this year there would be no extra presiding officers taken on, as they actually had to lay some off. I thought this was an excuse until I came across this article

http://www.galwaynews.ie/28096-cuts-may-see-reduction-referendum-polling-booths-and-jobs

What do ye make of it? Has anybody heard anything about it?

deelite

Has anybody been contacted by the Sheriffs Dept to confirm their place as polling clerk

Cian92

Yep, I was last week.

bijapos

I applied in the usual way the day the referendum was called (this will be my third election), they rang me a couple of weeks later and asked would I be prepared to have more people on the register on my desk and would I be prepared to work shorter hours. So it waits to be seen how they will change things around. It's not a controversial referendum and I expect the turnout will be low so it's not surprising cutbacks are being made somewhere.

deelite

I have been contacted, the office said that they were dropping 220 clerks or tables can't be sure which. Also the hours were 8.30am to 11.15 pm. They said they would contact me this week if there was a position for me.

queen of Umaill

Funny i was talking to work colleague about how i applied for a position other day.She told me the same people in Dundrum have been doing it every time one has come about.
Isn't there a rule they have to change every time.I read that on the actual site.They never use the same people twice.
I think that should be challenged as they are not following the laws of voting system.
I don't trust the voting system if same people being used every time.

Please note that we do not carry applications forward from one election to the next so if you applied for work at any previous election and were not offered a job then you will need to re-apply if you wish to be considered for work at this election.

oscarBravo

queen of Umaill wrote: »

I read that on the actual site.

Which actual site?

I think that should be challenged as they are not following the laws of voting system.

Which laws?

I don't trust the voting system if same people being used every time.

Why not?

cbreeze

Cian92 wrote: »

Does anybody know will the same number of staff be employed in this referendum as in previous referendums? I rang my city sheriff to say I would be interested in moving up from polling clerk to presiding officer and was told this year there would be no extra presiding officers taken on, as they actually had to lay some off. I thought this was an excuse until I came across this article

http://www.galwaynews.ie/28096-cuts-may-see-reduction-referendum-polling-booths-and-jobs

What do ye make of it? Has anybody heard anything about it?

they are probably reducing head count to accord with the PSA

deelite

Has anybody received a confirmation letter about the polling station they will be working at? As I said earlier I received a phone call asking about my availability - but as yet nothing in the post confirming station etc.

hoodini89

I received my confirmation email last week and confirmation letter yesterday.

deelite

Has anybody ever worked as a counter of votes (day after election) - can you tell me what it was like etc. Thanks

uck51js9zml2yt

deelite wrote: »

Has anybody ever worked as a counter of votes (day after election) - can you tell me what it was like etc. Thanks

counted the last referendum and got a call to say I got this one.
they team newbies up with experienced counters and everything counters do is cross checked by their partner.


had a call first about the poling station and hoped to get it but was told that there were no vacancies when they called me about the count centre.
what gets me is that people do it who are on full time jobs which is against what the.minister said about unemployed people getting the jobs.

bijapos

Got the letter during the week, it says polling is from 9 am to 10 pm, and not 7 am to 10 pm as is normal in elections, so that's a reduction in wages of over 10% already.

Danna Shy Geyser wrote: »

counted the last referendum and got a call to say I got this one.
they team newbies up with experienced counters and everything counters do is cross checked by their partner.


had a call first about the poling station and hoped to get it but was told that there were no vacancies when they called me about the count centre.
what gets me is that people do it who are on full time jobs which is against what the.minister said about unemployed people getting the jobs.

Well you need an experienced person along with an inexperienced, so inevitably the experienced one will have been there for a few years doing the job and may or may not have full time employment.

I think there was a big upsurge in requests after the recession hit, and to an extent they want to stay with some people who have been doing the job for some time and might be regarded as being experienced and reliable and still interested in the job when the recession is over. There are two clerks at every table, one of them has to be experienced.

uck51js9zml2yt

bijapos wrote: »

Got the letter during the week, it says polling is from 9 am to 10 pm, and not 7 am to 10 pm as is normal in elections, so that's a reduction in wages of over 10% already.




Well you need an experienced person along with an inexperienced, so inevitably the experienced one will have been there for a few years doing the job and may or may not have full time employment.

I think there was a big upsurge in requests after the recession hit, and to an extent they want to stay with some people who have been doing the job for some time and might be regarded as being experienced and reliable and still interested in the job when the recession is over. There are two clerks at every table, one of them has to be experienced.

don't disagree with the need for experience but do have a problem with people doing their day job, the voting and the counting earn people can't even get 1 day who are unemployed.