Combined Authority and Combined County Authority Returning Officer guidance for Combined Authority Mayoral elections

Election agents may appoint sub-agents to act on their behalf.1
 
Election agents may appoint sub-agents for particular parts of the combined authority/combined county authority area, as long as those parts do not overlap.2  The agent can determine the parts into which they wish to sub-divide the combined authority/combined county authority area, and these may cross local authority boundaries.  

The office of the sub-agent must be in the area within which they are appointed to act.3

A sub-agent can do anything that the election agent is entitled to do within the area to which they are appointed.4 They may attend the opening of postal votes, the verification and count, as well as the calculation of the result, provided that these are taking place within the area in which they have been appointed to act and they are acting in place of the election agent.5  

The election agent must declare to you in writing the name, address and office address of each sub-agent they have appointed and the area in which they may act by the fifth working day before the day of the poll.6 You should include forms for the notification of appointment of sub-agents in your nomination packs. We have produced a form for the notification of sub-agents as part of both sets of nomination papers for candidates at combined authority mayoral elections.

The election agent can revoke the appointment of a sub-agent at any time.7 If a sub-agent dies or has their appointment revoked the election agent may appoint a new-sub agent by declaring in writing the name, address, office address and area of appointment of the new sub-agent to you.8

Once the name, address, office address and area of appointment of a sub-agent have been declared to you, you must give public notice of these details.9 You should forward this notice to the local ROs in the combined authority/combined county authority area for local publication.