Fergus Cassidy

Challenging Times (part 1 is here)

AFTER the first complete canvass is finished, blood, sweat (and maybe tears) are spent scrutinising the results and transferring them to the master register of electors. This is the bible for the rest of the campaign.

The marked register is examined for where the support lies, taking note also of the level of 'Don't Knows' (DKs). That's an indicator of how much the election may be 'in play'.

Local canvass results, plus a general word of mouth impression of what major issues came up on the canvass, are passed on to national headquarters of the big parties for analysis.

This partly explains the present shapeless nature of the current campaign. The parties and candidates are in sonar mode. That'll change soon enough.

Back to the canvass. With maybe a week to go to polling day, canvassing moves up a gear. Armed with feedback from headquarters, canvassing might concentrate on specific issues, with leeway for local candidates to do their thing.

Leaflet drops are a speciality at this point. They use up less time on the doorstep and can also be targeted to specific roads, estates or areas.

Leafleting is also an invaluable part of vote management for some parties, say with voters in the north of a constituency being asked to give number 1 to Mr North and number 2 to Ms South.

This is one reason why the initial full canvass is so important: identifying supporters.

The big day: action stations
When you walk into a polling station and locate the table for your area, the presence of many of the people seated in front of you is explained by the canvass.

Each candidate in an election is entitled by law to have an agent (or their representatives) inside the polling station for the duration of the poll.

Generally, only the bigger parties have the numbers to make this a reality in every polling station.

In larger stations, you should see about five people seated at your table. Two of these will be officials working for the returning officer, who is responsible for running the entire poll in a constituency.

These officials are responsible for issuing ballot papers and marking off the names of those who have voted.

The other three will, in general, be agents of FF, FG and Lab. They may look all official sitting there but they're there for the good of their health. Not yours.

The key to their presence lies unfolded in front of them: the marked-up chunk of the register of electors from the canvass.

Secret agents
These folks are the dedicated followers. It's a long, long day, big chunks of it where nothing much happens. They must stay put by law and require permission from the returning officer to leave the polling station.

I once witnessed feeding time in a polling station and could identify which party each agent represented by what they were eating: piping hot meat and three veg for the FFs; meat salad for the FGs and ham sandwiches for Labour.

These agents have two main roles. The first is the most important: marking off who has voted from their register. That information is relayed back to the candidate's agent who can then form a bigger picture of turnout. 'Where are the voters from Trees Estate? Oh, there's a funeral on. Phew! I mean that's sad.'

There may be voters on the canvassed register who have 'lift' beside their names. These have asked to be brought to the polling station and the ferrying has to checked military style.

(My father used to take enormous pleasure in accepting a lift from 'that shower' and then 'voting for the other crowd'. Genius.)

Is it yourself that's in it?
The second task of the party's agent at the table, and this is significant from a voter's point of view, is to challenge any attempt to personate. In a tight race, every vote counts. Or maybe not.

Once you're on the register of electors (or supplement), you're entitled to vote. No ifs or buts. No polling card? No problem. But you may be asked by officials for proof of identity.

You approach the presiding officer at your table. If you've no card, you tell the officer your name and address. He/she will then call out your name and polling number (for the benefit of the eyes-down agents), stamp the ballot paper and then hand it to you.

But before the ballot reaches your outstretched hand, someone speaks and there's a challenge. You are about to witness the candidate's agent in action and it could lead to you being stopped from voting and brought to a station of a different kind.

Next post: arrested development feat the Swearing Lady

This entry was posted on Thursday, 3 May 2007 at 10:37 am and is filed under Doors of Perception.