Words by

Iryna Zubenko

Sverrir Páll Sverrisson on his fun side gig that comes around every so often

When Bjarni Benediktsson announced snap elections this October, half of the nation thought, “God. Why now?” For the other half, including Sverrir Páll Sverrisson, it was an immediate reminder to sign up to work as a poll worker — a sweet deal by all accounts. “It’s fun to work on this day, but it’s also nice to get paid, and in a way, it’s a service — you want to help everything go as it should,” explains Sverrir. Here’s why he’s been waking up extra early on every election day in recent years.

Sverrir Páll Sverrisson, 32, freelancer in event production

I mostly do events for a living. Right now, I’m freelancing, producing a variety of events — concerts, theatre, all kinds of stuff. I’ve been working with events for a while. I used to work for the University of the Arts organising events. Currently, I don’t have a steady job or steady income — I’m just doing whatever projects come my way.

My first time working at the election was in 2017. I found out because a friend of mine had been doing it. They told me that it was quite an interesting experience. It was fun and you get paid for a whole day, which is also kind of nice. So, I just sent an email to the city and asked if I could be a part of it. That was it.

I have since then done it eight or nine times. This [the Nov. 30 election] will be the ninth, I think. Even when I have a job that I go to every day, I still do these election days. I really like it.

Election day basics

There’s always a meeting beforehand where the Electoral Commission goes over the rules, how the election day goes, your responsibilities and how to tackle different situations. Then, you get a PDF document that you should read beforehand so you can answer any questions voters might ask. At least for Reykjavík, I always feel this is super well-prepared. Even when I went there for the first time, I felt like I could do my job well because they took the time and energy to explain everything well.

The first few times, I worked in “undirkjörstjórn,” a subdivision of the Electoral Commission. Usually, I work at Ráðhúsið, and they have maybe eight or nine subdivisions there. Your job is to greet the voters, ask for ID, mark their names and count how many voters come in. Most people who work on election day are doing that. But for the past two or three years, I’ve been doing one level up, working at the district election board. We make sure everything goes smoothly for all the subdivisions — if someone shows up and they’re not registered at your polling station, you can try to help them out and tell them where they should vote, or maybe even help them vote at your station.

I started doing this mainly because it’s nice to get a little bit of extra cash. But I’ve been doing it every time since, and there’s something magical about every election day. It’s always fun to see people excited when they come to the polling station. And there’s a wide range — the young people who maybe are going there for the first time, a little bit nervous, don’t really know how it works, which is kind of funny, but we’ve all been there, and then you have the older people who dress up in their fanciest clothes because for them it’s a tradition, which is also really cool. You see the whole range of different people, all coming to do the same thing — just to vote. I wouldn’t say I would do this for free, but I really like doing it — this day differs from everything else.

Sweet sweet deal

[As of 2024, an election worker for a subdivision of the Electoral Commission earns approximately 82,000 ISK for a day of work.] You get a bit more if you’re higher up. There are four of us running our polling station, with eight different subdivisions that have maybe three or four workers in each — in total, it’s about 30-40 people that we’re taking care of. There’s a lot more responsibility — we have to show up earlier and stay a bit longer. We have to seal the boxes containing the votes and go with the driver taking the boxes to Laugardalshöll for counting.

We get three meals a day. Before we start, we get breakfast, and then we go over all the rules, reminding people of how the day goes, what you can and cannot do. Later, we have lunch and dinner with some coffee breaks in between. They always have some extra staff, so we tell them to rotate and take breaks once in a while. 

Ballot buzz

My favourite thing about this job is the atmosphere on this day. For most people who come here and also the staff, there’s just some excitement in the air. Even though people have different opinions on who to vote for, everyone’s there to do their thing. Some people are always at the door at nine o’clock when the polling station opens, which is funny — the first voters who just want to get it over with. 

The busiest time is from around noon until about five, and then it gets busy again after dinner. It’s always a really good feeling when you finish the day, especially when you’re on the district election committee. As the subdivisions come to you, you can see the excitement in their eyes, just trying to finish so they can go home or to a party. 

It’s such a good feeling when you close the last book, deliver the votes to the counting station, or hand the last thing over and you’re free for the day. Or when you can help people who are a bit lost, don’t have their IDs, or are trying to figure out where to vote. Once in a while, you get the question, “Who should I vote for?” which is always funny because that’s one of the rules — you can’t tell anyone who to vote for, of course. 

It’s rare, but sometimes we get people who are irritated or have come to the wrong polling station and don’t understand why they can’t vote here. Probably my least favourite thing is the low period between the last two hours of the day when there are only two voters every 10 minutes and nothing much to do. It can get slow, but overall, I just find this such an amazing day.

Elections or Eurovision?

I don’t think the city advertises this job because they don’t have to — many people want to do it, so they never need to advertise. Except for one time a few years ago when the election was on the same day as the Eurovision Song Contest. That was the first time I got the chance to be one level higher because there was a lack of people — nobody wanted to miss Eurovision. That’s the only time I remember they asked around and reached out to people who might want to do this job. It was a bit funny — every time they sent us an email, they would say, “We just want to remind you that this is on the same night as the Eurovision Song Contest, so please let us know if you’re not going to come to work.”

You don’t have to send a CV or anything when you apply for this job. At least in Reykjavik, you just send an email to kosningar@reykjavik.is to be a part of it. My tip for anyone who wants to do it would be to apply early. I was telling my friend about this yesterday, and she emailed them, but they told her that every position is filled and put her name on a waiting list. If someone cancels or is sick, she might be able to join.

For me, I just saw the news where the Prime Minister was announcing they were going to break up the government, and on the same day, I sent an email to work at the election. You don’t have to be that early, but I just do it when I know elections are coming. I put my name in there.

I definitely recommend trying it out if you’re interested. It’s a long day, but it’s fun — you get to know different people and are taken care of. If you’re not working, you should at least go and vote.

Note: You must be at least 18 years old and hold citizenship to work in parliamentary elections.

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