Guidance for Candidates at Parish council elections in England

You may appoint agents to attend postal vote openings.

Anyone can be appointed as a postal vote agent except for:

• the Returning Officer or a member of their staff1
• a partner or clerk of the Returning Officer or a member of their staff2
• anyone not entitled to vote at the election as a result of the report of an election court or a conviction for a corrupt or illegal practice under the Representation of the People Act 19833

A person may be appointed as a postal voting agent for more than one candidate.4

You can automatically act as one of these agents without the need of an official appointment.5

The Returning Officer will tell you the maximum number of postal voting you can appoint.6 All candidates will be allowed to appoint exactly the same number.

The request to appoint postal voting agents must be made in writing to the Returning Officer.7

The request must contain the names and addresses of the people being appointed.8 The Returning Officer will provide forms you can use for this, or you can use the Commission’s postal voting agent appointment form.

Appointment forms for postal voting agents need to be submitted to the Returning Officer by the time fixed for the opening of postal votes they want to attend.9

The Returning Officer will give you at least 48 hours’ notice before the scheduled start of each postal vote opening session.10

If an agent dies or becomes incapable of acting, you may appoint another agent in their place by submitting the relevant appointment form to the Returning Officer.11 Any new appointment in these circumstances must be made without delay.

More information on what postal voting agents can and cannot do and what they can expect to see at postal vote opening sessions can be found in our guidance what does a postal voting agent do and the stages of the postal vote opening process.