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

Local ROs are responsible for the production of ballot papers for their area. You may take on responsibility for printing ballot papers in any or all areas by giving a direction to the relevant local ROs.1

If you intend to take on this responsibility you should notify the relevant ROs at the outset of the election planning process, and provide them with information as soon as possible about when and how ballot papers will be delivered to them for issue in postal ballot packs and use in polling stations. If you do decide to issue a direction to print the ballot papers yourself, then data protection considerations and effective management of contractors and suppliers will be critical. 

The form and content of the ballot paper is prescribed in legislation. If local ROs have retained responsibility for the printing of combined authority mayoral ballot papers, once the deadline for withdrawal of nominations has passed, you will need to give them clear and timely information about the final details of the ballot paper to enable them to confirm the exact specifications with their printers and commence printing. This includes the precise size and layout, and candidate details (i.e. name, address or electoral area if applicable, description (if any) and emblem (if any)).

You may wish to give specific guidance or directions to local ROs as you think appropriate, to ensure that the form and content of the ballot papers meet the legislative requirements and are consistent across the whole of the combined authority area. 

You should have processes in place to ensure that local ROs print the ballot papers correctly, including that the candidate details on the ballot paper are reproduced accurately, and that the correct emblems and font type and size have been used. You should provide a template ballot paper that local ROs can use as a basis for printing the ballot papers for their constituent council area, and against which they can check printing proofs and final versions of the ballot papers. 

You should also consider putting in place a process to proof check the ballot papers of local ROs yourself before printing commences in order to satisfy yourself that all the ballot papers across the combined authority area will be printed correctly.

You can find more information on the production of ballot papers, including the official mark, the printing of candidates’ details and data protection considerations in our RO guidance for local elections on the production of ballot papers.  

Secure transfer of information

You will need to ensure your plans outline the processes and safeguards you will have in place regarding the transfer and security of data between yourself and local ROs. 

You will need to ensure there is an agreement in place between you and each local RO in the combined authority area for the secure data transfer and destruction of data. Our guidance on data protection contains more detailed advice on storing personal data securely and maintaining your document retention policy, including what it should contain.

Although data protection regulations do not require a written agreement when sharing data between data controllers, it is strongly recommended that you agree a data sharing protocol with other local ROs in the combined authority area.

You can find more information on managing contractors and suppliers in our RO guidance for local elections on managing contractors and suppliers.   

If you are taking on the responsibility for printing ballot papers and intend to send data to a contractor to produce ballot papers for the election, you are using a data processor. 

As a data controller, data protection legislation imposes a legal obligation when using a processor to formalise the working relationship in a contract which sets out: 

• the subject matter, nature and purpose of the processing
• the obligations and rights of the data controller
• the duration of the processing
• the types of personal data and categories of data subjects

In addition, the contract must set out specific obligations on the processor, including that they:

• comply with your instructions
• are subject to a duty of confidentiality
• keep personal data secure and notify you of any breach
• maintain written records of the processing activities they carry out for you
• only use a sub-processor with your consent
• submit to audits and inspections and provide you with whatever information you need to ensure compliance with data protection requirements
• delete or return all personal data to you as requested at the end of the contract

You can find more information on your legal obligations when using a data processor in our data protection guidance.