Electoral services officer: what the job involves

Electoral services officers keep a council’s register of electors up to date and organise the elections and referendums held in its area. The job swings between steady administrative work for much of the year and very long, high-pressure weeks before and on polling day. Pay sits on each council’s grades built on the NJC pay spine, after a 3.3 per cent award from 1 April 2026. A hypothetical officer grade on SCP 17 to SCP 22 would pay £32,046 to £34,811 full-time.

Who is responsible for what

Two legal roles sit above the team. The electoral registration officer (ERO) is responsible for the register, and the returning officer is responsible for running elections. In most councils in England and Wales, both are held by the chief executive or another senior officer, who delegates the day-to-day work to the electoral services team.

The legal framework is mainly the Representation of the People Act 1983 and the regulations made under it, with later changes such as individual electoral registration under the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 and voter identification under the Elections Act 2022. The Electoral Commission issues guidance and performance standards that electoral teams work to.

Arrangements differ in other parts of the UK. In Scotland, electoral registration is usually handled by assessors’ offices that also deal with property valuation, while councils run the elections. In Northern Ireland, the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland runs both registration and elections, so councils there do not employ electoral services teams in the same way.

The electoral register

Registration is the steady part of the job. People can apply to register at any time, mostly online, and each application has to be checked against government records before the person is added. Officers process these applications, follow up when identity cannot be verified, deal with people moving in and out of the area, and handle requests to be left off the open register.

Every year the ERO carries out the annual canvass, contacting households to check who lives there and who is eligible. Officers run the canvass from start to finish: data matching, sending communications, chasing non-responses, arranging door-to-door visits by canvassers, and publishing the revised register at the end. For several months it takes up much of the team’s time.

Officers also manage absent voting: postal and proxy vote applications, renewals and signature checks. Where voter ID applies, they deal with applications for Voter Authority Certificates for people who have no other accepted photo ID.

Running an election

When an election is called, the team’s work changes completely. A local or mayoral election is planned months ahead. A by-election or an early general election can arrive at short notice.

The tasks include:

1. Booking polling stations and checking they are accessible.
2. Recruiting and training presiding officers, poll clerks, postal vote openers and count staff.
3. Handling candidates’ nomination papers and agents’ queries.
4. Ordering and proofreading ballot papers and poll cards.
5. Issuing postal votes and opening the returned ones, with checks on identifiers.
6. Running polling day, including a helpline for polling station staff.
7. Organising the count and the declaration.

Mistakes are public and can be costly. An error on a ballot paper or a postal vote batch can lead to complaints, an Electoral Commission report or, at worst, an election petition to the courts. Officers read the law and guidance closely and check their work twice.

Busy periods and hours

During the canvass and in the run-up to an election, overtime and weekend working are normal, and polling day usually runs from before the polls open until the count ends, which can be into the early hours. Most teams restrict annual leave at these times.

Outside those periods the hours are standard office hours, often with flexible working. Green Book leave is at least 23 days plus eight public holidays and two extra days, rising to 26 days after five years. Council employees join the Local Government Pension Scheme; at salaries from £29,001 to £47,300 the main section rate is 6.5 per cent.

Election duties are often paid through fees set by the returning officer, separate from your salary. How those fees apply to permanent electoral staff varies between councils.

Pay grades

Role	Hypothetical grade	2026/27 full-time pay
Electoral services assistant	SCP 7 to SCP 12	£27,274 to £29,542
Electoral services officer	SCP 17 to SCP 22	£32,046 to £34,811
Senior officer or deputy manager	SCP 23 to SCP 28	£35,570 to £40,444

These are illustrations only, as each council sets its own grades. The NJC pay spine lists every point, and the council pay grades guide explains how grades are built from it. Electoral services managers are usually on higher grades again.

Qualifications and getting in

Most assistant posts ask for good admin skills, accuracy and confidence with databases and spreadsheets, with no specific qualification. Many people move in from other council admin roles, customer service, democratic services or registration services. Temporary election work, such as canvassing, poll clerk or count assistant shifts, is a common way to get a feel for the job and a foot in the door.

Once in post, officers often study for the professional qualifications run by the Association of Electoral Administrators (AEA), which start with a certificate and lead to a diploma. Councils commonly pay for these.

Vacancies appear on council websites and regional portals, often just after a major election cycle when staff move on. At interview, expect questions about accuracy under pressure, handling an angry voter or candidate, and how you would prioritise when deadlines collide; the guide to council interview questions covers the competency format most councils use.