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

There are a variety of ways in which the verification and count can be organised across the combined authority area, and you will need to decide which is the best option for your area, based on your local circumstances and those of the local ROs and, where relevant, other Returning Officers in your combined authority area. 

At a standalone combined authority mayoral election, local ROs are responsible for the verification of the ballot paper accounts and the counting of the votes for their area.1

On completion of the verification procedure at a standalone combined authority mayoral election, local ROs must inform you of the contents of the verification statement, i.e. the total number of ballot papers counted. 

If the votes are counted at a different venue to where verification takes place, local ROs must seal the verified ballot papers in packets with contents lists and send them, along with the ballot paper accounts and the verification statement, to the count venue.2

Where the poll at a combined authority mayoral election has been combined with the poll at another election, the relevant Returning Officer will be responsible for verifying the ballot papers at all polls.3 The local RO will, however, remain responsible for the counting of the votes for their area. Where polls have been combined, you should liaise with the relevant Returning Officer to ensure consistency in the verification across the combined authority area.  

Where polls have been combined, all ballot papers for all elections must be verified before the count for any of the polls can begin. 

Where polls have been combined, you will need to obtain the verification statement from the relevant Returning Officer to enable you to check the local count totals against the verification statement and identify any potential variances. Local ROs must also inform you of the contents of the statement of local count totals, once it has been prepared.4

Where polls are combined, you will need to liaise as early in the planning process as possible with your project team and decide the way the verification and count will be organised in your area to achieve the more effective and transparent process. You can find more information about verification and count in our Returning Officer guidance: managing verification and managing the count. 

There are two options for organising the count processes for the election in the combined authority area: 

• Individual local counts and central collation by the CARO/CCARO: This option would see the verification and counting of the votes take place in local count venues, with the local totals being forwarded to you at a central hub. In this case, you would need to ensure that the process in place for the transmission and receipt of totals from each local RO to the central hub is capable of establishing a clear audit trail, is timely, and supports the development of an accurate result.
• A central combined authority area count: There are two main variations of a centralised count: a count where votes are verified locally before being transferred to a central counting venue, where all of the votes for the combined authority area would then be counted; or a count where votes for all areas are both verified and counted in one central counting venue. 

There are, however, variations within these two options and the potential for other ways of organising counts within a combined authority area. For example, across a combined authority area some local authority areas could count locally, while others come together and hold counts on a more centralised basis. 

You should liaise closely with the local ROs in your area when deciding on the approach. In areas where the poll at the combined authority mayoral election is combined with the poll at another election, you should work closely with the relevant Returning Officers to agree an approach. Whichever option is chosen, there will be risks and benefits associated with it. You will need to identify these when you develop your proposals for consultation and, once a decision has been made, work with local ROs (or the relevant Returning Officers in case of combined polls) to plan how you will manage and mitigate the risks.