Combined Guidance for Returning Officers at Local Government and Police and Crime Commissioner Elections in England

The original version of each completed document must be submitted.1  

The nomination form, home address form and consent to nomination must be delivered by hand.2 This includes delivery by courier.

Certificates of authorisation and emblem request forms may be delivered by hand or by post, but cannot be delivered by email or other electronic means. This is because a document that is printed out is not an original document – it would be a copy document. 

For a document to become a certificate (as required for a Certificate of Authorisation), it requires a method of authentication. In most cases, the authentication takes the form of a signature to attest the truth of the facts stated. A seal could also be used. 

Whatever method of authentication is used, the document delivered must be the original document. A copy document is not acceptable.