PREPARING for a general election is not easy for staff at Wiltshire Council, who have been printing thousands of polling cards to make sure everything runs smoothly on May 7.

Dr Carlton Brand, the county's returning officer, who is responsible for overseeing the election, said it has been useful knowing the date five years in advance.

Dr Brand said: “Knowing the date has been helpful andIt is pretty well rehearsed. We started preparing in detail last summer and we have been working on it ever since.

“We've got a really good team. They are very knowledgeable about the elections, putting in many hours to see it run smoothly.”

Dr Brand, who has worked for Wiltshire Council since 2007, added that his permanent team of 10 staff has overseen the printing of 355,000 polling cards ready for the day and contingency plans have been put in place should they need extra volunteers or additional polling cards for registered electors.

He said that many voters misplaced their polling cards during the European Parliamentary and the Police and Crime Commissioner elections in the last couple of years so the team are looking to cover any mishaps before they happen.

“We have a very large project plan with 500 points that needs to be done before the General Election," he said.

“To this day there are 355,000 people who are on the register for being eligible to vote and that is how many we are planning for but I would like to push that number higher.”

On the day of the election, there will be nearly 1,500 people involved in stewarding, counting and the declaration of results across the county and many are volunteers.

Dr Brand said: “The people who will be helping out are council employees of Wiltshire Council or former staff members. We also use volunteers so iIf anyone is interested in helping out on the night they can get in touchc ontact with us. They do get paid and for their work in the day or at the count on the evening we are looking for people with attention to detail who can count and handle bits of paper.”

Dr Brand believes that after the polling stations have closed at 10pm on May 7, it will take staff about five hours to confirm the results after polling stations close at 10pm.

He said: “I expect that for all five constituencies, the result will be declared between 4.10-4.30am and we have a couple of unitary election results to be declared which I am expecting to release at 5.30am.”

The deadline to register to vote is Monday. To volunteer on polling day, contact the elections department via email on elections@wiltshire.gov.uk or write to Electoral Services, Wiltshire Council, County Hall, Bythesea Road, Trowbridge, BA14 8JN.