Polling Officials: The Strength and Weakness of Democratic Systems

Abstract The scale and logistical demands of conducting elections means that they are typically delivered by many thousands of men and women employed for very short periods of time, most no more than a single day every three, four, or five years depending upon the constitutional requirements or electoral laws of the country concerned. The inevitable fact that elections can only be delivered “through” the individual and collective efforts of large numbers of ordinary men and women drawn from the community represents a fundamental strength of democratic systems. Their involvement provides transparency, credibility, and a strong sense of participation in the process that ultimately determines who will be installed as the government of the day to make decisions affecting the lives of the country's citizens. Yet, some recent events in Australia (and elsewhere) involving significant errors made by polling officials demonstrate that the involvement of these same men and women from the community represents a chal...