Transcript Slide 1

MAY 2015 ELECTIONS
AGENTS BRIEFING
16 April 2015
Housekeeping
Please turn all mobile phones
off or to silent
today
There are no fire alarm tests
- if alarm goes go to the
nearest fire exit and
follow directions from
staff.
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Aims of this briefing
• To give an overview of the electoral
procedures for agents for the
parliamentary, district and parish
elections
• To give information up to and
including the counts
• General information regarding the
election processes
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Areas to be covered
• Timetable
• Appointments for agents and subagents
• Postal votes
• Registers
• Counts
• Security
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Introductions
•
The Acting Returning Officer is responsible for running the general
election
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The Returning Officer is responsible for running the local elections
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David Buckle is also the Returning Officer for the South and Vale
and parish elections
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The Electoral Registration Officer is responsible for maintaining the
registers of electors and absent voters lists
David Buckle is the Acting Returning Officer for the Henley, Oxford
West and Abingdon and Wantage constituencies
David Buckle is also the Electoral Registration
Officer
•
Deputy Acting/Returning Officers:
– Steven Corrigan (Henley constituency count)
– Philippa Rugman(Henley constituency count)
– Margaret Reed (Oxford West and Abingdon count)
– Marcia Beviere (Oxford West and Abingdon count)
– Kathy Fiander (Wantage constituency count)
– Sarah Ling (Wantage constituency count)
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May 2015 elections
•
Parliamentary General Election for
Henley constituency
Oxford West and Abingdon constituency
Wantage constituency
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District council elections
South Oxfordshire District Council
(all out – 21 wards)
Vale of White Horse District Council
(all out – 24 wards)
Contested parish council elections
South Oxfordshire - 20 town/parish
councils/wards
Vale of White Horse - 20 town/parish
councils/wards
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How you can help
• Registration forms must be submitted by
midnight on Monday 20 April
• Encourage electors to respond to any
requests for information that they have
received from us
• Postal vote applications must be
submitted by 5pm on Tuesday 21 April
• Proxy vote application forms must be
submitted by 5pm on Tuesday 28 April
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Information available
•
Electoral Commission guidance for candidates
and agents including
• election timetables for combined elections
• sub-agent, polling agent, postal voting and
counting agents’ appointment forms
• requests for electoral register and absent
voters’ list
• code of conduct for campaigners – postal
voting, proxy voting and polling stations
• tellers’ guidance and do’s and don’ts
All are available from the Electoral
Commission website
http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-ama/candidate-or-agent
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Statutory election timetable
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Statutory election timetable
contd
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Access to electoral
register/absent voters’ list
• Available to candidates for each election provided a
written request to the electoral registration officer is
made
• Registers can only be used for the following
permitted purposes:
- to assist candidates in their campaign
- to check that any donations/loans are permissible
It is illegal to use for other than electoral purposes
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Return of deposits
•
Where cash has been paid, it will be
returned the week commencing 11 May –
please contact Marcia Beviere to make an
appointment
•
Where a draft has been paid, we will
arrange electronic transfer of funds to the
account requested by you
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Electoral Commission code of
conduct for campaigners
• Campaigners are an essential element of a healthy
democracy, but their activities should not bring into question
the integrity of the electoral process
• Absent vote applications:
- make sure electors understand implications of absent vote
- do not encourage postal ballot pack redirection
- do not encourage electors to appoint a campaigner as a
proxy
• Postal ballot packs:
- never touch a postal ballot paper or observe electors
-
completing their postal vote
do not encourage electors to give you their completed
postal ballot paper or envelope
• Polling stations:
- keep access to polling places and the pavements around
polling places clear to allow voters to enter
Please issue campaigners with a copy of the Electoral
Commission “Guidance to campaigners and tellers”
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Campaigning – code of conduct
Tellers have no legal status but there are Guidance
for Tellers sheets available from the Electoral
Commission website; we would advise these are
issued to all your tellers
Tellers MUST:
• always remain outside the polling station i.e.
room within which voting is taking place
Tellers MUST NOT:
• be able to see or hear what is happening in the
polling station
• impede, obstruct or intimidate voters
• demand information
• use undue influence
Tellers MAY
• display a coloured rosette or badge displaying the
name of the candidate or party. While the rosette
must not be oversized, it may carry a description
or emblem
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Campaigning
• Use imprints on all your campaign
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material, it is advisable to include it on all
website and social media material
Political signs on the highway need
county council approval
Political signs generally need approval of
the landowner
Do not produce material that looks like a
poll card or ballot paper
Do not pay people to display your
adverts
(unless they display adverts as part of their
normal business, e.g. newspapers)
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Postal votes
• Separate postal vote issues for
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Parliamentary and district/parish
We expect the first batch of postal
votes to be despatched to Royal Mail
on Tuesday, 21 April
The second and final batch will be
despatched to Royal Mail on or about
Friday, 24 April
Overseas electors’ packs will be
issued as soon as practicable from
the printers
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Postal vote opening
•
All postal vote opening sessions (except the final one) will
be at Old Abbey House, Abingdon-on-Thames OX14
3JE in five separate rooms
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The purpose of agents attending is to oversee the process
and not to tally votes cast
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Opening sessions are:
– Monday 27 April
10am to 6pm
– Tuesday 28 April
10am to 6pm
– Wednesday 29 April 10am to 6pm
– Thursday 30 April
10am to 6pm
– Friday 1 May
10am to 6pm
– Tuesday 5 May
10am to 6pm
– Wednesday 6 May
10am to 6pm
– Thursday 7 May
10am to 6pm
– Thursday 7 May
9pm until finish (at the leisure centre)
Depending on the number of postal votes, some sessions may
finish early
Immediately prior to these sessions staff will slit the outer
envelopes in preparation for processing
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Postal vote opening agents
•
The number of postal vote opening agents that can be
appointed is as follows:
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Postal vote opening agents per candidate:
•
– Parliamentary
2 agents
– District
1 agent
– Parish
1 agent
Note that not all the opening sessions may take place or
may shorten due to the volumes of votes returned
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Polling day
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Polling stations open from 7am to 10pm
Staff instructed to show ballot box empty prior to
sealing if candidates/agents are present at the
opening of the poll
Separate ballot box for each election
Voters at the polling station in a queue in the
polling station at 10pm will be allowed to vote
Voters will not be allowed to join queues after
10pm
Postal votes – can be handed into polling
stations within constituency/ward relevant to the
vote or delivered to the elections office until
10pm
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Verification and Parliamentary
counts
•
The venue for the parliamentary and district counts will be:
White Horse Tennis and Leisure Centre, Abingdon-onThames OX14 3PJ
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Count centre will open at 9.45pm
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Candidates, election agents, counting agents and one
other person appointed by the candidate are entitled to
attend
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Agents need to manage arrival time and expectations of
candidates of the likely timetable
There is likely to be a queue to drive into the leisure centre
car park between 10.30pm and 11.30pm when most ballot
boxes are arriving – please avoid walking through the drop
off area
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Verification and Parliamentary
counts
• Verification of postal votes will start at 10pm
• Verification will start as soon as the ballot boxes
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arrive from the polling stations
Once the votes are verified the parliamentary ballot
papers will start to be counted (approx. 2am on
Friday)
We will be undertaking mini-counts and racking votes
and adjudicating doubtful ballot papers within each
mini-count area
Estimated time of results is 6am – winner speech
only
There is a guide to the counting process on the
Electoral Commission website
http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/00
03/182829/UKPGE-easy-guide-to-the-count-FINAL-FILE-DLLeaflet.pdf
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District counts
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The venue for the district counts will be:
White Horse Tennis and Leisure Centre, Abingdon-onThames OX14 3PJ
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Counts will start at 2pm on Friday 8 May
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Counts will be undertaken in alphabetical order for each
district – but we reserve the right to vary this to ensure
efficient working (e.g. to start a longer count such as
Thame slightly earlier in the process)
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Where possible we will block vote two and three member
wards and keep the use of grass skirts to a minimum
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Results will be uploaded to the councils’ websites and
displayed on screens in the count venue
Count centre will open from 1.45pm
Candidates, election agents, counting agents and one
other person appointed by the candidate are entitled to
attend
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Parish counts
•
The venues for the parish counts will be:
White Horse Tennis and Leisure Centre, Abingdon-onThames OX14 3PJ
Henley-on-Thames Town hall
Thame Town Hall
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Details of which counts are taking place where are on the
relevant district council’s website
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Counts will start at 10m on Saturday 9 May
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Where possible we will block vote first – likely to be in
some town wards
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Most counts will be carried out using grass skirts
Counts will be undertaken in order starting with the towns,
followed by those with the most candidates – but we
reserve the right to vary this to ensure efficient working
Results will be provided to the relevant parish councils
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Candidates – verification
counting agents
Please note these allocations are limited by the
venue capacity; all candidates and election agents
are eligible to attend this
•
Verification counting agents per candidate
• Parliamentary
• District
• Parish
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20 agents
1 agent
1 agent
Please note that on completion of the
verification for all elections the district and parish
candidates and agents may be asked to leave
the count venue prior to the parliamentary count
commencing
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Candidates – parliamentary
counting agents
The number of the various agents that
can be appointed is as follows:
• Parliamentary counting agents per
candidate
Parliamentary
20 counting agents
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Candidates – local election
counting agents
The number of the various agents that
can be appointed is as follows:
• Local election counting agents per
candidate
• district
• parish
2 agents
1 agent
Please note these allocations are
limited by the venue capacity; all local
candidates and election agents are
eligible to attend
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Police – security
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The police will be visiting polling stations
throughout polling day
There will also be a police presence at the count
venue
Please assist with security on the day by not
bringing large bags to the count – they may be
searched
Only those authorised to be at the count are
guaranteed entry so you must bring the relevant
paperwork
Any incidents should be reported to the police
using 101 or 999 as appropriate
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Police – contraventions of
electoral law
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Please refer any alleged contraventions of
electoral law to the police SPOC
DS Duncan Wynn
Economic Crime Unit – Major Fraud North
Email: [email protected]
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Candidates’ spending
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Candidates’ spending is regulated by the
Electoral Commission and is laid out in the
Candidates and Agents Guidance
Webcast on election spending available on
Electoral Commission website
Any enquiries should be referred to the
Electoral Commission
www.electoralcommission.org.uk
Contacts at the commission:
Tel: 020 7271 0616
[email protected]
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Electoral guidance
• Please use the Electoral Commission
Guidance for Candidates and Agents.
This guidance is comprehensive and
covers all aspects of the election
process
• Please download the guidance to
party supporters, such as tellers, and
issue copies to them.
• Electoral Commission website for
candidates and agents
http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i
-am-a/candidate-or-agent
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ANY questions?
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