FOR weeks, political parties have been working hard to secure votes.

But another dedicated group have also been preparing quietly behind the scenes for tomorrow's big night - the returning officer and his team.

The post of returning officer is an ancient and important one which holds a considerable amount of personal responsibility.

The officer literally "returns" the result of the election to the Queen via the Chancery Office in London.

This year, that post will be in the hands of Redditch Borough Director Chris Smith, backed up by deputy returning officer Steve Skinner.

Mr Skinner said: "In general terms, it's the returning officer's job to see the election is run in accordance with the relevant statute and he is personally responsible.

"A key role is to ensure there's no fraud and that everything is done accurately, fairly and without bias.

"For this period, we're our own masters and not subject to any political persuasion."

Both men will be vetting polling stations during the day tomorrow before the count begins at the town hall, where they will mainly be collating the votes but also ruling on dubious ballot papers.

If a ballot paper is in any way unclear, then it will be deemed spoilt.

Mr Skinner said: "Occasionally, we'll get some interesting remarks on the papers but if there's a clear mark against a candidate's name, that will be accepted.

"We do accept ticks if it shows a clear intention but we'd encourage people to put a cross."

The votes will be counted by up to 100 people, most of them bank employees who can count papers quickly.

If it's a close call, then a party can apply to the returning officer for a recount.

"The scariest scenario is an absolute tie," said Mr Skinner.

"This would probably happen after several recounts and if it's still tied, then it's literally a case of picking a name out of a hat - but this is very rare."

At the end of the evening, the returning officer announces the result and the ballot papers are secured and sent to London, where they are kept for a few years in case of dispute.

If fraud is suspected, a court can demand an audit trail and votes can be traced back, but this is rare and systems are in place to ensure voters' anonymity at all times.

"It's always an apprehensive time," said Mr Skinner.

"We have to be alert and ready to make decisions at 1.30am.

"It's a very long, slow process but there's always a lot of excitement at the end."