Teller (elections)
A teller is a person who counts the votes in an election. Tellers are also known as scrutineers, poll-watchers, challengers or checkers.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, tellers are people working on behalf of political parties (usually as volunteers) who stand or sit outside the polling station and collect the electoral registration numbers of voters as they enter.[1] They play no official part in the election, but their work helps their parties to identify supporters who have not yet voted, so that they can be contacted and encouraged to vote, and offered assistance—such as transport to the polling station—if necessary.
Sometimes some or all of the main parties might reach an agreement to take shifts, and pass on their lists to the other parties; however it is commonplace to see several tellers outside a polling station.
See also
External links
- ^ Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. 2007-02-26. col. 706.
When I first became involved in politics, there was a clear unwritten convention that on polling day one did not take a loudspeaker anywhere near a polling station. One did not hand out literature at the entrances to polling stations. All that tellers did was take numbers.