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

Postal votes can be returned by hand to any polling station in the relevant electoral area.1  

Where the issue of postal ballot papers has been combined, postal votes may only be returned to that part of the electoral area that is common to all of the combined polls in respect of which postal ballot papers have been issued.2

For each poll taking place there are limits to the number of postal votes that can be handed in by an individual, and restrictions on who the individual handing in the postal votes can be. For more information please see our guidance on the postal vote handing in process and refer to the polling station handbook. 

You should brief polling station staff to identify which postal votes can be returned to their polling station. For more information on training staff please see our guidance on Training Presiding Officers, Poll Clerks and polling station inspectors. 

You should provide polling stations with packets for:

• accepted received postal votes
• completed return of postal voting documents forms for accepted postal votes
• rejected received postal votes 

The number and style of packets should be based on returns to polling stations at the last equivalent polls, but you should keep in mind the potential for late engagement and interest in the election which may affect turnout. 

Records of all such packets should be kept so that each one can be accounted for. The packets should be clearly labelled and state: 

• that they contain postal votes
• that they contain either accepted or rejected postal votes or the return of postal voting documents forms 
• the name of the polling station
• the polling station identifier

Security of returned postal votes

You should ensure that the packets are capable of being securely sealed. 

Polling agents are entitled to attach their seal to sealed packets before they are removed from the polling station and must therefore be permitted to do so.   

As part of your training you should emphasise to Presiding Officers the importance of maintaining the security of postal votes returned to polling stations. Once the return of postal voting documents form has been completed in the correct manner, both it and the postal vote(s) should be immediately placed in the relevant packets provided and the Presiding Officer should ensure that the packets are stored securely throughout the day. 

You should arrange for accepted postal votes to be collected from polling stations throughout the day as this will help to reduce the number that will have to be dealt with after the close of poll. Polling station inspectors can perform this duty. You should ensure that processes are in place to maintain a clear audit trail and to ensure the security of collected postal vote packets while in transit. Rejected postal votes must be returned in their packet at the close of poll.