ELECTIONEER

Electoral Registration Officer

The Electoral Registration Officer (“ERO” or “RO”) is responsible for compiling & maintaining the register of electors (voters), and appointed by the Council having undergone relevant training. (Often assisted by a Deputy RO). The statutory functions, including the duties of the ERO, are set out in legislation. Further duties can be imposed by a direction of the Secretary of State. (The Secretary of State has a power to direct EROs in the discharge of their functions only in relation to UK Parliamentary elections and combined elections upon recommendation of the Electoral Commission).

Presiding Officer

POs are responsible for conduct in the polling station and ensuring the integrity / secrecy of the ballot assisted by the Poll Clerk(s), & accounting for all of the ballot papers and the security of the ballot box. and :

Poll Clerk

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Candidate

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Election Agent

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Campaign Manager

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C

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D

The PO must ensure that disabled voters can vote independently & secretly, making reasonable adjustments.

CM

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Recall Petition

The Recall of MPs Act 2015 means an MP loses their seat in the Commons on a successful recall. It is started by the Speaker of the House of Commons giving notice to the PO that recall conditions have been met. A recall petition lasts for six weeks. 10% or more of petition means the MP will lose their seat and a by-election will be called. The MP subject to recall may stand in the by-election.

Election Agent

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Campaign Manager

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Polling Station

Polling Stations are open from 7am until 10pm. On polling day, staff are required to arrive at their polling station by 6.30am to set it up in time for opening and should not leave the premises during polling hours.
A polling station is the room or area within the polling place where voting takes place. Unlike polling districts and polling places which are fixed by the local authority, polling stations are chosen by the relevant RO for the election.

Polling Place

We are aware that some authorities designate the entire polling district as the polling place. However the legislation states that ‘the polling place must be small enough to indicate to electors in different parts of the district how they will be able to reach the polling station’.2  
A polling place is the building or area in which polling stations will be selected by the (A)RO. A polling place within a polling district must be designated so that polling stations are within easy reach of all electors from across the polling district.
We therefore consider that polling places should always be defined more specifically than simply the polling district – for example, by designating the name of the polling place (normally a particular building or area and its environs).

Immediate vicinity of the Polling Station

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Polling District

A polling district is a geographical area created by the sub-division of a UK Parliamentary constituency for the purposes of a UK Parliamentary election.

In England, each parish is to be a separate polling district and, in Wales, each community should be a separate polling district unless there are special circumstances. This means that a parish or community must not be in a polling district which has a part of either a different parish or community within it, or any un-parished part of the local authority area within it, unless special circumstances apply. Those special circumstances could arise if, for example, the parish/community has only a small number of electors and it is not practicable for the parish to be its own polling district.

In Scotland, each electoral ward must be divided into two or more polling districts unless there are special circumstances. Given the size of wards in Scotland, it is difficult to envisage what those special circumstances might be in practice.

When a parish or community is not a separate polling district or a Scottish electoral ward is not split into two or more polling districts, the special circumstances and the recommendation resulting from these should be clearly set in the review document for the council or relevant committee to consider.

Imprint

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Parliamentary Constituency

The Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 states: ‘There shall for the purpose of parliamentary elections be the county and borough constituencies (or in Scotland the county and burgh constituencies), each returning a single member, which are described in Orders in Council made under this Act. […] In this Act and, except where the context otherwise requires, in any Act passed after the Representation of the People Act 1948, “constituency” means an area having separate representation in the House of Commons.1 ’

UK Parliamentary constituency boundaries cannot be changed by the review.