Election staff for European Parliamentary Elections 2014 and Referendum on Scottish Independence

Many of you will be aware that European Parliamentary Elections are being held on May 22 this year.

As usual, the council’s Election Team has had a great response to efforts to recruit staff for polling, count and postal vote duties.

As things currently stand, all those earmarked for Presiding Officer or Polling Clerk duties throughout Aberdeenshire have been contacted.

While there may still be a small number of call-offs, these should be accounted for by those held on the reserve list for such eventualities.

Unfortunately, a number of volunteers will have been unsuccessful in obtaining a position but the Election Team is still very grateful for the interest expressed.

This year’s election in particular requires a smaller number of polling staff due to the reduced number of polling stations.

In a similar vein, we believe we now have sufficient volunteers to staff the count in Inverurie on May 25 and for postal ballot paper receipt and checking in Banff, Inverurie and Stonehaven.

Returning Officer for Aberdeenshire and Chief Executive, Colin Mackenzie, said: “Once again, I would like to say thank you to everyone who expressed an interest in working at the European Election. Should any further vacancies arise, we will highlight these through Arcadia.

“Of course, another major electoral event is taking place later this year – the Referendum on Scottish Independence in September.

“We will need a larger number of both polling and count staff for this, so anyone who would like to be considered for these duties should get in touch.”

Anyone interested in working as part of the Election Team at the Referendum and who hasn’t yet expressed an interest can do so by e-mailing: elections@aberdeenshire.gov.uk