The following guidance has been produced to support the Greater London Returning Officer (GLRO) in planning for and delivering the Greater London Authority (GLA) elections. 

The guidance has been developed in close consultation with London Elects, and the GLRO. It reflects the GLRO’s legal obligations and what we and London Elects believe that GLROs should expect of their staff in preparing for and delivering the GLA elections.

How to use this guidance

This guidance is directed towards the GLRO and highlights the key considerations in planning for the elections and, the areas in which you should liaise with stakeholders (particularly Constituency Returning Officers (CROs) and Borough Returning Officers (BROs)) to inform your planning in order to ensure consistency across London, and the tools you have available to help you achieve this in practice. 
Throughout the guidance we use ‘must’ to refer to a specific legal requirement and ‘may / should’ for recommended practice.

This guidance covers your role and responsibilities as GLRO, the particular context of the GLA elections, planning for the election and highlights aspects of the election process where early preparations can be undertaken.

It also covers specific parts of the election process that you are responsible for delivering, including:

• the nominations process for the Mayor of London election and 
• the election of London-wide Assembly Members
• the election addresses of Mayor of London candidates
• the results collation and the declaration of the Mayor of London and London-wide Assembly results
  after the declaration of the results

The Commission and London Elects have produced separate guidance for Constituency Returning Officers.
 

This guidance is supplemented by resources which can be accessed through links contained in the guidance.

Should you have any questions about the guidance or any other matter relating to the administration of the polls, our London regional team are available to provide on-going support. We also provide an out-of-hours advice service to deal with urgent electoral administration queries in the run up to and immediately following any scheduled elections. Further information on the provision of our out-of-hours service will be provided through our Bulletin for electoral administrators.
 

This section of the guidance covers the appointment of the Greater London Authority Returning Officer (GLRO) as well as the role and responsibilities for those associated with this post. It provides a detailed list of the relevant legislation that the guidance has been written to reflect, and which the GLRO should be familiar with. 

It also contains guidance on the consequences of the breach of official duty and the legislative powers available to the GLRO to use in certain circumstances.  

Finally, this section also contains guidance on the skills and knowledge that is expected to be required of the GLRO.
 

The GLRO is appointed by the Greater London Authority (GLA) and has overall responsibility for coordinating the GLA elections across Greater London. The GLRO is independent of the GLA and the Mayor in respect of their electoral functions.

The GLRO should liaise with and coordinate the work of CROs and BROs. 

The GLRO and CROs must cooperate with each other in the discharge of their functions.1  

Insurance and indemnity

You should ensure that you have appropriate insurance cover. You should be prepared to demonstrate robust planning and decision-making processes in the event of any challenge to the election and a claim against this cover. 

London Elects may be able to help determine what insurance cover is in place and available, and to provide advice as to whether or it should be extended. 

As GLRO you are responsible for the co-ordination of the GLA elections at a London-wide level.

In addition to your legal duties, you are also responsible for providing leadership and co-ordinating the work of the Constituency Returning Officers (CROs), to ensure that the election is well-run and that voters and those standing for election receive a consistently high-quality service across the whole of the police area.

As GLRO you are personally responsible for the following specific aspects of the GLA election:

• giving notice of the election of the Mayor of London and the London-wide Assembly Member election1  
• the nomination procedures for the election of the Mayor of London and the London-wide Assembly Member election2  
• publishing the statement of persons (and parties) nominated for the election of the Mayor of London and the London-wide Assembly Member election3
• giving notice to the relevant CROs if a candidate has been validly nominated in more than one Assembly constituency, as a candidate cannot stand for election in more than one Assembly constituency after the deadline for withdrawals4
• publishing the notice of poll for the election of the Mayor of London and the London-wide Assembly Member election5
• supplying notices for the guidance of voters at polling stations6
• the collation of votes from across Greater London for the election of the Mayor of London and the London-wide Assembly Member election and the declaration of the results7

Issuing directions

You can give directions to CROs about: 

• the discharge of their functions in relation to the GLA elections 
• directions requiring them to provide you with any information which they have, or are entitled to have

CROs are required to comply with any direction you have given to them. You can give directions that apply to all CROs, or only to one or some.8  

If you decide to direct CROs to:9

• include alternative information in the appropriate form of postal voting statement in place of the paragraphs beneath the heading ‘Instructions to the voter’
• issue additional information to those entitled to vote by post 
• include additional information in poll cards
  You must supply the alternative or additional information either electronically or in a printed form along with directions to the CRO as to how the information is to be used by no later than the date of the notice of election.

You must supply the alternative or additional information either electronically or in a printed form along with directions to the CRO as to how the information is to be used by no later than the date of the notice of election.

You should take any decision to issue a direction at an early stage in the process, following consultation with the relevant CROs, in order to provide clarity for all involved and to enable these activities to be planned for and taken forward as appropriate. You should put in place a communications plan for communicating any directions and guidance. 

As part of your considerations you should take into account the number of CROs in the GLA elections and the impact of the directions you issue may have on the activities that CROs will need to undertake. You should ensure the CROs are adequately resourced to be able to deliver them effectively.

Further guidance on the  issuing of directions can be found in our planning section for GLROs.

You should ensure that any deputies appointed have the skills and knowledge required to carry out the functions that they have been assigned. 

You must make any appointment of a deputy in writing and should include details of the functions that the deputy is authorised to exercise on your behalf.10  The deputy’s acceptance should also be given in writing. 

The CRO, who is designated by an Order made by the Secretary of State, is responsible for:

• all aspects of the administration of the election of Constituency Members to the London Assembly 
• those elements of the Mayor of London and London-wide Assembly Member contests that fall within their constituency area, including the conduct of the poll and the counting of votes

Returning Officers for the other boroughs in a constituency, known as Borough Returning Officers (BROs) do not have a statutory function. 

Nevertheless, in practice, the CRO will work closely with BROs on operational issues, such as:

• the identification and booking of polling stations
• the appointment of staff 
• sending out and opening of postal votes

The CRO is personally responsible for: 

• the publication of the notice of election for the Constituency Assembly Member election1  
• the nomination process for the Constituency Assembly Member election2  
• the publication of the statement of persons nominated and the notice of poll for the Constituency Assembly Member election3  
• provision and equipment of polling stations4
• appointment of polling station staff5
• organising the poll for all three contests6  
• the postal vote process for all three contests 7
• the verification and counting of the votes for the Constituency Assembly Member election and for that part of the Mayor of London contest and London-wide Assembly Member contest that falls within the constituency8  
• the declaration of the constituency results9  
• the transmission of the results of the three contests to the GLRO10  

CROs must also consider the accessibility for voters at polling stations. Our guidance on assistance with voting for disabled people  provides further information.

Electoral Registration Officer

The Electoral Registration Officer is responsible for maintaining the register of electors and absent voters’ lists for their local authority area. 

In London, the Electoral Registration Officer is normally a senior officer in the local authority and may also be the Returning Officer for that borough.

You are personally liable for the conduct of the GLA elections relating to your role and duties and are subject to breach of official duty provisions. If you or your appointed deputies are, without reasonable cause, guilty of any act or omission in breach of official duty you (and/or they) are liable on summary conviction to an unlimited fine.1  

You have the power to take such steps as you think appropriate to remedy acts or omissions that arise in connection with any function of the elections and that are not in accordance with the rules.2

This power allows you to correct procedural errors that you, as GLRO, or a CRO, an ERO, a Presiding Officer or a person providing goods or services to you (or any deputies of any of these) make. CROs have the same power to correct procedural errors and you should ensure that they consult you before exercising this power.

Where you or an CRO use the power to correct procedural errors, you should ensure that the error and corrective action taken is explained to those affected including, where applicable, voters and candidates and agents. You should ensure that you and the relevant CRO and BRO) keep a record of: 

• any errors identified including what the error was and how it occurred
• the impact of the error
• any advice you or the CRO received (including legal advice)
• what measures were taken to correct the error, and how these were communicated

Where you remedy an act or omission in full by using this power, you will not be guilty of an offence of breach of official duty. You should remember that the power to correct procedural errors does not enable the votes to be recounted once the result has been declared.3

In addition to your legal duties, you are also responsible for providing leadership and co-ordinating the work of CROs to ensure that the election is well-run and that voters and those standing for election receive a consistently high-quality service across Greater London.

You should ensure that you have a clear understanding of your statutory functions and a working knowledge of the relevant legislation. 

In undertaking the management responsibilities attached to your role you should:

• provide leadership to CROs, which should be supplemented with advice, guidance and training as required, and clearly communicate how you will monitor this to ensure that the election can be well-run and that voters receive a high-quality service wherever they are voting 
• co-ordinate and administer the planning of the election at the police area level, in line with the legislation and Electoral Commission guidance and performance standards
• take all necessary steps to ensure that the local authority provides you with the resources you need to fulfil your role, as they must do by law
• oversee the planning, project management and risk management of the elections by CROs 
• provide guidance and support to CROs in preparing and maintaining a proper project plan and risk management approach for the election
• consider your approach to appointing deputies, including the number appointed and the purposes for which you are appointing them
• ensure that CROs have the necessary plans and arrangements in place for the conduct of the election in their constituency
• put in place a count protocol for the two-way communication of verification and count information between you and the CROs
• provide guidance and support to your staff, monitor progress and receive regular feedback on activities
• support CROs in administering the election and provide appropriate oversight of their work including any directions you may have issued
• monitor the performance of CROs and identify and oversee any actions necessary to mitigate any issues arising
• ensure that your staff, CROs and their staff, are appropriately trained to deliver the roles required of them
• ensure that election accounts are completed in a timely manner
• maintain an effective working relationship with the police and ensure that CROs maintain an effective working relationship with their Single Point of Contact (SPOC) 
   

This guidance has been produced taking account of, and should be read in accordance with, the requirements set out in the following legislation (as amended):

• Representation of the People Acts 1983, 1985 and 2000
• Greater London Authority Act 1999
• The Greater London Authority (Assembly Constituencies and Returning Officers) Order 1999
• Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000
• Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations 2001
• The Greater London Authority Elections (Election Addresses) Order 2003
• Electoral Administration Act 2006
• The Greater London Authority Election Rules 2007
• Political Parties and Elections Act 2009
• Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013
• Greater London Authority Elections (Amendment) Rules 2019
• Electoral Administration Act 2022
• Voter Identification Regulations 2022
• Greater London Authority Elections (Amendment) Rules 2022
• The Assistance with Voting for Persons with Disabilities (Amendments) Regulations 2022
• The Assistance with Voting for Persons with Disabilities (Principal Area, Parish and Greater London Authority Elections) (Amendments) Regulations 2022
• The Representation of the People (Postal and Proxy Voting etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2023

The list above includes only the legislation which currently applies and that is directly relevant to this guidance. 

Throughout this guidance we are using the following abbreviations in respect of each Schedule from The Greater London Authority Elections 2007 Rules:

CMER - Schedule 1 (Constituency Assembly Member elections)

LMER - Schedule 2 (London-wide Assembly Member elections)

MER - Schedule 3 (Mayor of London election)

Schedule 4 amends the rules for the manual count across the 3 schedules. 

Data protection legislation applies to the processing of all personal data. As GLRO you are personally responsible for ensuring that you comply with the requirements of data protection legislation. We have published guidance to support you in meeting with your obligations under data protection legislation as it relates to your electoral administration responsibilities.

The GLRO is also required to have regard to the public sector equality duty contained in Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 when carrying out your duties.

As GLRO you should have awareness of the Electoral Commission's guidance on accessibility. 

Greater London Authority elections is a significant event which brings with it its own particular challenges. Having robust plans in place are crucial to ensure you are able to deliver a well-run election. 

This section of the guidance covers the planning you will need to do to support the co-ordination and delivery of the election, including the elements of the process you will need to liaise with CRO about, project planning and implementation considerations.

This section also contains guidance on identifying, monitoring and mitigating risk, and developing plans to ensure the integrity of the election is maintained.

Finally, it provides guidance on how you will need to plan for your public awareness activity to promote both voter registration and provide information to support electors voting, and engagement with candidates and agents.

To help you meet any challenges, you will need to set up processes for effective co-operation and communication between the different ROs across Greater London.

You will also need to put in place detailed and robust plans for monitoring and maintaining integrity across the area.

There are several key points you should consider during your plans for these polls, including:

• the potential for any by-elections to be combined with the GLA elections
• turnout projections and how this impacts on all stages of your election planning
• the knowledge and experience among CROs and the processes involved at this type of election
• managing the candidates’ election address process including uploading to the website which contains the candidates’ campaign statements
• the knowledge and experience of candidates and agents, with the potential for a significant number of newer or less experienced candidates and the potential for more queries than you may be used to answering at other elections 
• any changes to the political landscape across all, or in parts, of the Greater London area and any impact this may have
• significant scrutiny from voters, candidates and the media and how you manage the expectations of any stakeholders with an interest in the result

These elections will bring their own particular challenges, and your work to deliver a well-run polls will come under considerable scrutiny – from voters, candidates and political parties, and the media.

Nature of the GLA elections

The elections involve co-ordination across a number of local authority areas including a co-ordinated public engagement strategy.

The evolving political landscape could mean that even in places where there have traditionally been large majorities, this may no longer be the case, meaning the focus and circumstances could be different from anything experienced at a GLA election before.

There may be a significant number of new or less experienced political parties, candidates and agents who are unfamiliar with the practices and processes of an election and who will need your support to be able to participate effectively. Even those who are more experienced may have limited experience of standing at a GLA election.

Given the possibility of close and hard-fought contests, you should be prepared for the integrity of the elections to be scrutinised. Allegations and cases of electoral fraud will not only have a negative impact on the confidence of electors and campaigners, but they may also have a significant impact on your capacity to manage the elections process effectively.

It is therefore crucial that you:

• put in place detailed and robust plans for monitoring and maintaining the integrity of the election
• work closely with the local police to ensuring you have in place good lines of communication for referring any allegations.

Scale and turnout

Many aspects of planning for the elections will need to reflect assumptions as to the likely turnout. Establishing such assumptions at an early stage in planning is of key importance as the scope for adjusting plans is limited at a later stage in the process. There are always challenges with developing such planning assumptions, with it often being difficult to predict in advance of the election period what the levels of engagement in the particular polls are likely to be. 

Given the potential for high levels of interest and engagement in the elections, some of which may not emerge until close to the polls, the potential for a high turnout should be reflected in all aspects of planning for the polls.

As the polls become closer, the context will continue to evolve as the campaigns pick up pace. You will need to be prepared to react to events which could have an impact on the effective delivery of the polls, and this will include having robust contingency plans in place that you can turn to where required. If, for example, there are televised debates, these could conceivably result in a late surge of registration and absent voting applications, as well as having an impact on turnout and could alter the traditional pattern of when completed postal votes are returned, which you should ensure that CROs, BROs and EROs across Greater London are prepared to respond to.

In any case, there is the potential for a high number of applications for registration and voter authority certificates to be made close to the deadline. This should be anticipated and built into CRO planning, reflecting the lessons learnt by EROs from the experience of recent electoral events. 

Turnout will also impact planning for the verification and count. It is vital that appropriate provision is made to ensure that verification and count processes are as accurate and efficient as possible. You will need to co-ordinate the timing and organisation of verification and counting to ensure that they are carried out in a timely and effective way across the Greater London area.

The media focus on the verification, count and declaration of results could be significant. It will be important to manage expectations, not only of the media but of all with an interest in the results, by consulting on your proposed approach and subsequently communicating clearly what you expect to deliver and by when, particularly where combination will impact on your expected result declaration times. 

Before you start planning for the election, you should ensure that you have carried out a review of the last GLA elections.

If you have not delivered a poll with an element of regional co-ordination previously, you should consider how you can learn from the experiences of others who have carried out such a role.

You should have

• carried out a thorough evaluation of all processes outlined in your project plan for the previous election, 
• sought feedback from appropriate stakeholders, and
• produced a lessons learnt document to inform the project plan and risk register for future electoral events. 

You can find further information in our guidance on Reviewing the election.

You should have carried out a thorough evaluation of all processes outlined in your project plan for the previous elections, sought feedback from appropriate stakeholders, and produced a lessons learnt document to inform the project plan and risk register for future electoral events. 

You should prepare a project plan and a risk register, treating each as a ‘living document’ and use them to both monitor progress and manage risks. You should use these documents to:

• set out what you want to achieve, and how you will measure success
• evaluate the planning and delivery of any previous polls, and use your findings to inform your planning
• liaise and seek input from CROs in developing your risk register and ensure that they are aware of any risks you have identified, as well as any mitigations
• set up a project team
• set up a communications plan to support consistency in the delivery of the election across Greater London
• establish a schedule of regular meetings with CROs
• cover how you will co-ordinate any public awareness activity across Greater London
• establish a communications network involving a representative of each CRO to help share information and co-ordinate activity
• ensure where possible that any communication activity is co-ordinated with any national activity and any Commission registration activity or campaigning feeds into your plans
• ensure stakeholder communication is embedded throughout your planning, with particular arrangements in place for working with London-wide media

The key objective of implementing project and risk management processes is to ensure that adequate preparations are made in advance of the elections, with risks identified and properly managed, so that the polls can be delivered effectively. 

You should set out at an early stage what you want to achieve and what success would look like for you, and this should be reflected in the objectives and success measures set out in your project plan. You should work with CROs in developing these objectives and success measures and ensure that they also reflect these in their own plans.

Project plan

You should prepare a project plan in relation to your functions as GLRO, keep it under regular review and use it to monitor progress. 

Your planning should ensure that:

• voters are able to vote easily and know that their vote will be counted in the way they intended 
• it is easy for people who want to stand for election to find out how to get involved, what the rules are, and what they have to do to comply with these rules
• everyone can have confidence in the management of the process and the result

Before starting your detailed planning, you should set out what you want to achieve and what success would look like. Your project plan should include clearly defined objectives and success measures. 

Your project plan should cover contingency planning and business continuity arrangements. The continuity arrangements should include provisions to cover loss of staff and loss of venues during the election period.

Your project plan should also identify the resources and staffing required. You should take all necessary steps to ensure that the local authority makes the necessary resources available to you to enable you to discharge your functions. 

We have produced a template project plan to assist you in your planning:

The Commission has published a timetable for the elections containing the statutory deadlines as set out in the election rules which can be used to assist you in your planning. 

Risk register

You should prepare a risk register which should also be a living document and kept under regular review. You should use your risk register to monitor the risks and document any changes in risk, as well as ensuring that mitigating actions are identified and are being taken forward, including by CROs where appropriate.

Your risk register should identify:

• any difficulties and problems that may occur, and the actions taken to mitigate them.
• the seriousness of any risk by indicating both the likelihood of the risk occurring and the impact of the risk if it did occur. 

Your risk register should consider risk and risk management in relation to your functions as GLRO, plus any key risks relevant to the administration of the elections across Greater London as a whole.

In developing your risk register you should ensure that you liaise with and seek input from CROs as necessary, and that they are aware of any risks you identify that may directly affect the election in their voting area, as well as any mitigating actions for which they are responsible. 

We have produced a risk register to assist you in your planning:

Security

Your project plan should include a review of security arrangements with the local police. You should also consider any security risks as part of your contingency planning exercise and include these in your risk register.

Your security arrangements should prevent unauthorised access to or use of the ballot papers during all stages of the production process and storage between printing and delivery to CROs.

A date-specific timetable will be available on our website ahead of scheduled polls.

You should ensure that you have contingency arrangements in place to enable you to respond and deliver a well-run election should a by-election arise. Once an election has been called you will need to review your plans and develop arrangements for the specific context and timetable of the poll.

Although they are ERO functions, further information on the Voter Authority Certificate and the Anonymous Elector’s Document application deadline can be found in our ERO guidance. 

You can also find further information on the postal vote deadlines and the proxy vote deadlines in our ERO guidance. 
 

Your overarching project plan should cover contingency planning and business continuity arrangements. This should link into CROs plans to enable all elements of the delivery of the election to continue in the event of any unexpected issues or disruptions, including the impact of any unscheduled polls and by-elections that may occur.

It is important to keep your contingency plans under review and to re-visit and amend them periodically during the run up to the poll. In doing so, you should consider the success and continuing appropriateness of any existing measures, identify any improvements and expose any gaps.

Your contingency planning should include arrangements for the key areas of risk to the delivery of the election including:

Contractors

You should ensure that any suppliers that you or the CROs use – such as EMS providers and any external print providers – have their own detailed business continuity plans in place. You should be satisfied that their contingency arrangements are sufficient to enable you to perform your duties in the case of any interruptions in service whilst fulfilling their own contractual duties. For more information see our guidance on Managing the procurement process for outsourced work.

Venues

You and the CROs should prepare a list of alternative venues that are available at short notice for each stage of the elections process and brief staff on the contingency arrangements for using these venues that may affect their role. For more information, see our guidance Identify and book suitable venues  and Last minute changes to polling stations.

Staffing

You should monitor staffing levels across the Greater London area, identifying solutions to enable you to respond if a sudden staffing shortage arose in one or more areas due to unavailability of recruited staff or an unexpected increase demand or workload. 

You should liaise with your HR department who can use their expertise to assist you with your planning. Neighbouring authorities with reciprocal agreements in place may also be able to offer additional support in managing any requirements for temporary staff for specific parts of the electoral process. For more information see our guidance on Allocating sufficient staff resources and providing training.

IT

IT plays a key role in many of the processes required to run the election. You should liaise with your IT services to ensure that you have adequate resources and contingency measures in place to allow you to perform your functions in the event of IT failure. This could include:

• improving any measures allowing remote working capabilities 
• having dedicated IT support during the election period
• storing certain files and documents locally to enable them to be accessed more easily
• sourcing any spare or alternative equipment that could be used as a backup, e.g. printers, laptops, routers
• testing any communication links used for the verification, count and result collation process, including contingency processes should IT systems fail.  

Security risks should also be considered as part of your contingency arrangements, setting out how you will continue to deliver the election in the event of theft, fraudulent activity, a cyber-threat or any other security risk as identified in your risk register. You should liaise with the police and business continuity experts from your council to identify risks and put appropriate continuity measures in place. 

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has produced this guidance to help you assess the risks associated with IT and cyber-threats. 

Your project plan should include details on how you will deliver the key processes, including nominations, administration of the election address process and publication of the addresses online, co-ordination of the verification, count and result collation.

Establishing realistic and robust assumptions can assist you in planning for delivering these key processes. Sound assumptions can provide useful evidence in explaining your decisions and you should therefore document them. Sharing the assumptions with stakeholders at an early stage will also allow them to be tested by others for robustness before the detailed planning has been completed and will help build confidence in your plans.

Your planning should include assumptions on expected:

• turnout on polling day
• turnout of postal voters
• number of candidates 
• availability of staff
• speed and capability of staff
• timings for completing each process

All plans and assumptions should be kept under regular review. This will help inform a realistic assessment of whether you will be able to deliver the overall plan, and whether and when it may be necessary to implement contingency plans. In all cases your plan should be flexible enough to allow you to respond if any of your assumptions change, covering what contingency actions you will take in such circumstances, and you should communicate with stakeholders throughout your planning process and be prepared to explain the reasons for the decisions you are taking. For key decisions, you should provide your reasons to stakeholders in writing.

Turnout

The expected turnout is a crucial factor in you and the CROs determining the planning and understanding what resources will be needed for most processes and how this will work in a co-ordinated way across the area in particular for co-ordination of the verification, count and result collation. You should decide what the expected turnout is likely to be - taking into account the potential for late engagement and interest in the elections by which point scope for adjusting plans will be limited. 

Your turnout estimate should be based on the assumption that, as a minimum, the turnout of voters will be not less than the turnout at the last equivalent polls. 

It is always safest to err on the side of caution when it comes to turnout as national and local developments can result in rapid changes to the actual turnout.

The resources you and the CROs have available to conduct these processes, including numbers of staff and size of venue, will also be a relevant consideration to your planning. 

The number of parties and/or candidates

The number of parties and/or candidates standing at an election will also affect your planning considerations. For example, a large number of parties and/or candidates standing for election could mean that: 

• ballot papers will be large and staff and voters may be slower handling them
• more space will be required to accommodate the large ballot papers
• the counting process for separating the votes into bundles for particular parties and/or candidates may be slower and take up more space
• more space for candidates and agents may be required at the venues

In order to establish the likely number of parties and/or candidates you should:

• make early contact with the political parties
• monitor expressions of interest
• monitor requests for nomination packs

This information can then be taken into account when taking decisions on venues, count layout, necessary equipment and staffing requirements.

Staffing and timings

You should liaise with the CROs to understand the number of staff and the processes used at previous elections and the number of ballot papers that were processed. An evaluation of the processes and staffing ratios, and when the various stages of the election process were completed, can then be used to inform decisions for these elections.  

You should share these details and timings with stakeholders together with the assumptions that underpin them. 

Some stakeholders may hold expectations as to how quickly the processes can be completed which cannot be met in practice and this can lead to tension and frustration. To manage expectations, you should explain in some detail the processes involved and how long each stage is likely to take. For more on this, see our guidance on providing information on key election processes.

You should consider at an early stage how you will ensure that the elections are administered to a consistent standard across Greater London, so that voters receive a consistently high quality of service regardless of where they live and the election produces a result that is accepted. This should be reflected in the objectives and success measures set out in your project plan and should include whether you have issued (or intend to issue) guidance, and whether and how you have used (or intend to use) your power to give directions.

There will be aspects of the election process where you will particularly want to ensure that there is consistency, most notably in the areas that impact on the voters’ experience – for example, how CROs will meet their duty to ensure polling station voting is accessible to all voters, the issue of poll cards and postal votes, and the staffing of polling stations – as well as in respect of the verification and counting of votes. 

There are various tools available to you to ensure consistency. It is for you to decide, based on factors such as your knowledge, experience and relationships with the CROs and BROs, and taking into consideration issues of scope and scale, how to best achieve the objectives set out in your election plan. Your power to give directions is one tool available for you to use, but whether to give directions, on what matters, and to whom is at your discretion. 

Your project plan should reflect how and when you will reach a decision on your approach to managing and co-ordinating the elections and how you will implement this approach in practice. It should also include a communications strategy to support this work.

As a minimum, you should have in place processes for monitoring the delivery of the elections, including compliance with any directions and/or guidance you have given. You should think about how you will support CROs and electoral administrators in managing the polls and in dealing with any emerging issues.

The Commission’s London regional team will be available to support you throughout the election. Further detail on our plans for support and monitoring at any scheduled elections will be included in a future bulletin.

As part of your planning process you should identify what directions you are planning to issue to CROs, although there may of course be issues that arise at a later stage on which it becomes desirable or necessary for you to give directions at short notice. Should you decide that the use of directions is appropriate, your project plan should include specific plans for developing and issuing directions and a communications strategy to support this process.

If you are considering giving directions or guidance to CROs you should take into account any relevant criteria in the performance standards framework and/or Electoral Commission guidance, the latter which has been produced jointly between the Commission and London Elects. The performance standards framework and Commission guidance reflect what we and the UK Electoral Coordination and Advisory Board (ECAB) - of which you, as GLRO are a member - and the Association of Electoral Administrators (AEA) agree that Returning Officers need to do to prepare for and deliver well-run elections. This shared agreement, along with the flexibility in how the standards are achieved, should reduce the potential risk of conflict between the criteria of the standards and any guidance or directions issued by the GLRO.

If you do intend to give any guidance or directions that are different or contrary to the criteria of the standards, please contact the London regional team at the Commission in the first instance to discuss the implications, so that we can avoid, as far as possible, unresolved conflicting requirements being placed on CROs and that CROs can be clear as to what is expected of them.

In deciding whether to give a direction on a particular aspect of the election, and what that direction should be, you should aim wherever possible to consult your CROs, so that you can take into account any relevant local factors in making your decisions. This consultation should help to reduce the risk of any directions having unintended consequences and potentially maximise the ability of CROs to comply with them. 

Any consultation on possible directions should be planned for and completed in good time to enable the prompt and timely communication of your decision and any associated directions to CROs, to enable them to plan and prepare for the election accordingly.

If you decide to exercise your power of direction, you should do so with regard to the following principles and aims:

• trust: people should be able to trust the way our elections work
• participation: it should be straightforward for people to participate in our elections (whether as campaigners, candidates or voters) and people should be confident that their vote counts
• consistency 
• transparency
• professionalism
• accurate results in which people can have confidence

You should communicate any directions to CROs at the earliest opportunity, and in particular any requiring them to take specified preparatory steps. You should keep a record of what directions have been given, when, and to whom. 

CROs are legally required to comply with any directions you issue in relation to the discharge of their functions and requests for information.1 However, your plans for giving directions should take account of the fact that there may be circumstances where CROs are unable to comply with a direction, for whatever reason. You should therefore ensure that you develop plans to deal with these situations, which may include establishing a process for considering requests for exceptions to your directions. You should keep a record of any instances where you have agreed that a CRO can deviate from a direction.

You should establish a project team to support you in carrying out your functions as GLRO. The project team should include the relevant key staff to support you in each specific function, including encouraging and co-ordinating electoral participation across Greater London and producing an information booklet for voters which complies with legislation.

In addition to yourself your project team should include:

• CROs
• where a CRO is not also the ERO, the ERO
• any appointed deputies
• other election staff members
• any other key personnel you consider appropriate 

The project team should have a clear remit and understanding of the tasks to be carried out. At the planning stage a schedule of meetings should be prepared, and a record of each meeting should be kept as an audit trail of what was discussed and of any decisions made. Where possible, you should chair any formal meetings of the project team.

You are personally liable for the conduct of the GLA elections relating to your role and duties. 

You may appoint one or more deputies to assist you in delivering the election,1 and you should take steps to put the arrangements you identify as appropriate in place at an early stage in the process. As a minimum you should ensure that you appoint one or more deputies to assume your role in case you are unable to act personally as GLRO. 

You should ensure that any deputies appointed have the skills and knowledge required to carry out the functions that they have been assigned. You must make any appointment of a deputy in writing2 and should include details of the functions that the deputy is authorised to exercise on your behalf. The deputy’s acceptance should also be given in writing.

While you can appoint one or more deputies to discharge any or all of your functions, you cannot delegate your personal responsibility for the conduct of the election or any aspects of it that you are responsible for delivering. 

For the mayoral nominations you will need to have access to the registers for all London boroughs in order to check whether the subscribers are valid and that subscribers have subscribed only one nomination paper within Greater London.

You may either collect register copies from all EROs in your area so that you can carry out the checks yourself, in which case you would need to decide whether you will receive the registers in hard copy or in data form. Alternatively, you may wish to delegate the checking to individual EROs, requiring them to confirm to you whether the subscribers are entitled to subscribe the nomination paper.

Candidates will require access to the electoral registers to:

• complete their nomination form
• help them campaign
• check that donations are permissible

The Commission has produced template electoral register and lists of absent voters request forms that candidates can use.

You can find detailed information on access and supply of the full electoral register and absent voters lists to candidates, registered political parties (who can request a copy at any time) and others in the access and supply section of our guidance for EROs. 

You will need to ensure your plans outline the processes and safeguards you will have in place regarding the transfer and security of the data included on the electoral registers.

You should start discussions with the EROs at an early stage about how this can best be achieved in practice. You will need to take into account any practical issues related to managing registers if they have been produced by different software suppliers.

If there is a need for exchanging data electronically, you should agree the timings for the exchange of data and ensure that a test of the process is carried out ahead of the first scheduled transfer. You should ensure that data protection is considered and that any transfer of data is secure.

You can find more detailed advice on storing personal data securely and maintaining your document retention policy, including what it should contain, in our guidance on Data Protection. 

You will also need to ensure there is an agreement in place between you and each ERO for secure data transfer and destruction of data. Although data protection legislation does not require a written agreement when sharing data between data controllers, it is strongly recommended that you agree a data sharing protocol with the EROs.

There will be updates to the data at a number of points within the election timetable, as the ERO must publish two interim election notices of alteration as well as the final election notice of alteration.1 We have published a timetable containing the dates related to the publication of these notices. 

You will produce a booklet with the election addresses of all candidates who want to be included in it and who have contributed to the production cost of the booklet.1  The booklet will be sent to all registered electors in London.

You (or your chosen delivery contractor) will need access to the addresses of electors across the Greater London area for the purposes of sending the booklet containing candidates’ addresses. You should liaise with EROs to confirm the process and timescales for sharing the necessary data.

More information on producing the booklet can be found in our guidance on Election addresses.

Working with mail delivery partners

Unless you are planning to hand-deliver all of your election material, you will need have early discussions with your mail delivery provider to finalise arrangements. Your focus should be to ensure that material is delivered to electors successfully and maximises the time available to them to receive the information and take action as necessary. 

Some print suppliers use Royal Mail for the end to end delivery of mail, however some use downstream access (DSA) providers for the initial part of the distribution process. This involves the mail being collected and processed by a company other than Royal Mail, but then handed over to Royal Mail mail centres for final processing and delivery from local delivery offices. 

Regardless of how the delivery of your mail is managed, it is important to retain an overview at all times as responsibility remains with you even where you outsource different processes. 

You should discuss with your print suppliers to confirm whether they intend to use DSA providers as part of the process of delivering your election material, or whether items will be handed over directly to Royal Mail. This will help you understand the full delivery process and manage any issues should they arise. 

If you have agreed with your supplier that DSA providers will be used as part of the despatch and delivery process, you should get updates from your supplier on the progress of the delivery throughout.

Managing delivery schedules

You should liaise with your print supplier to manage the delivery of materials and ensure that voters receive the material as soon as possible so that they have the maximum amount of time to act on the information.

In making these arrangements you should:

• agree and obtain formal confirmation on strict delivery schedules well in advance of the poll. For example, when the dispatch of election material will commence and last date of dispatch
• obtain postal dockets to confirm the number of documents dispatched and the dates of dispatch, for all issues. This will also help to identify any possible issues that may have arisen with regards to dispatch and feed into any subsequent evaluation of contractor performance, and enable you to provide information to voters on dates that they should expect to receive material

You can find more information in our guidance on options for delivery of postal ballot packs. 

Royal Mail

You should contact your Royal Mail account manager, and continue to liaise with them on a regular basis. 

At an early stage in your planning process you should ensure that:

• any business reply licences you hold are up to date 
• you obtain the estimated delivery window of election material based on the despatch dates and method of delivery/postal package chosen. This will help you to manage communication channels to voters in your area and assist in early detection of any issues encountered with the delivery of election material

With regards to postal votes, the CROs will be liaising with Royal Mail to ensure that the time available for delivery and return of postal votes is maximised to enable postal voters to receive, complete and return their postal votes in line with any directions issued. 

You can also direct the CROs to conduct a final sweeps of postal votes. 

More information on managing the procurement process for outsourced work can be found in our guidance for CROs .

You should lead on putting in place a single integrity plan for the whole of Greater London that covers the specific steps you will take to identify and deal with any potential electoral fraud and how you will communicate your approach to provide confidence in the elections process to all stakeholders. You should do this in discussion with the police and CROs/BROs, ensuring that CROs' integrity plans do not conflict with your own plan for the London-wide area.

Voters and campaigners should be confident that elections are free from fraud, and that the results you declare are a true and accurate reflection of the will of the electorate. Trust and confidence in the integrity of elections is essential but can be fragile – it will be difficult for you to rebuild trust or confidence which has been lost as a result of allegations or proven cases of fraud.

Planning for the prevention of electoral fraud

While you will need to be able to work with the police and prosecutors to investigate any allegations which might be made, you should also put in place effective strategies for preventing electoral fraud from the outset.

In order to ensure that voters and candidates can have confidence that votes will be cast and counted in the way voters intended, you will need to have in place plans and processes to identify any patterns of activity that might indicate potential electoral fraud.

You should establish and maintain contact with the police at an appropriate level as part of this. The police Single Point of Contact (SPOC) officer will be able to provide you with contact details for the relevant force command or lead unit and will also be able to explain any divisional structure within the force if appropriate. You should ensure that you are provided with the contact details of any divisional SPOCs and ensure that the CROs schedule regular contact with them. 

Your plan for maintaining the integrity of the election should be developed in consultation with the police and include specific steps to identify and deal with any potential electoral fraud, and should also identify how you will communicate your approach to maintaining electoral integrity in order to support public confidence in the election.

Integrity plans prepared by CROs should fit within the London-wide plan and include any issues they have identified locally. Guidance for CROs on integrity plans can be found in our guidance for CROs. You should ensure that you have considered the specific risks relating to each constituency, including taking into account previous allegations of electoral fraud. There are a number of electoral offences specified in electoral law and the College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice has produced information on these offences and how they will be investigated.  

You should discuss your plans with your SPOC at the earliest opportunity. A checklist of topics that should be considered at any pre-election planning meeting between you and your SPOC is available. You should, as part of this meeting, consider the possibility of any joint publicity work that can be carried out with the police, for example, jointly running public awareness campaigns within the electoral area to highlight what can be done to help detect and prevent electoral fraud.

As part of your early liaison with your SPOC, you should establish a clear agreement about the division of responsibilities between you and your SPOC, so that there is early clarity about each other’s roles. In particular, you should agree with your SPOC an approach for referring allegations of fraud you may receive for further investigation where appropriate. For example, will you or the CROs be the initial point of contact and refer allegations to the SPOC, or will the SPOC be the initial point of contact and advise you of allegations? In addition, you should agree a mechanism for handling evidence, so that the police can carry out any forensic analysis, where necessary. The College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice have provided guidance to local authorities for handling evidence.

A template memorandum of understanding between CROs and the police on joint planning for elections and the reporting and investigating of electoral fraud is available on the College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice website. Elements of this document can also be adapted for any memorandum of understanding between you and the police.

You should also share the approach to tackling electoral fraud with parties, candidates and agents at briefing sessions and/or within the information provided to them. You should also consider inviting the police to attend any such briefing sessions and invite them to supply you with any relevant documentation to include in your information pack.

Following consultation with ROs, police forces and political parties, the Commission has issued a Code of Conduct for campaigners at elections and referendums. 

The Code applies to all campaigners, and sets out agreed standards of appropriate behaviour before and during an election or referendum. The Code also makes it clear that if a Returning Officer considers it appropriate to address further specific local risks, and has consulted with relevant national and local parties, we will support them in introducing additional local provisions which go beyond the terms of the nationally agreed Code. 

The College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice have developed a template letter seeking agreement from candidates to abide by the Code of Conduct and this should be provided to all candidates standing at the election.

In some cases, where there is a significant risk of electoral fraud allegations, you should also consider communicating your approach to tackling fraud more widely in advance of polling day to provide reassurance to voters and campaigners. 

You are uniquely placed to identify incidents and patterns of activity that might indicate electoral fraud in your area. 

Effective early action to address possible fraud could help to avoid costly police investigations or legal challenges to the results of elections.  

You should ensure that you have mechanisms in place to assess the risk of electoral fraud in your area, including considering:

• whether there has been a history of allegations of electoral fraud in parts of Greater London, including in specific boroughs
• whether the election is likely to be particularly close and hard fought 
• whether the contest which is based on strong personal disagreements as well as political arguments
• where there is a highly mobile population with a frequent turnover of electors 
• where there are electors who may be more vulnerable because of low levels of literacy and/or English language ability

Your plans for managing the risk of electoral fraud across the police area will need to reflect any specific risks you or CROs have identified in addition to any general fraud detection plans.

For example, you should consider the risks associated with houses of multiple occupation, student halls of residence or care homes where other people may have access to personal mail or where care givers may assist residents in care homes with completing postal vote applications or postal votes.

Your plans should also set out mechanisms for monitoring indicators of possible electoral fraud and setting thresholds for action in response. Although there are no definitive signs of possible electoral fraud, you should be aware of and consider with CROs and EROs whether: 

• there have been unusual patterns in registration, absent vote, or Voter Authority Certificate applications at other elections in the Greater London Authority area 
• there have been unusual patterns of rejected ballot papers, including rejected postal ballot packs, at other elections the Greater London Authority area 
• there is any unusual pattern of registration, absent vote or Voter Authority Certificate applications in the period leading up to the election.

Allegations and cases of electoral fraud will not only have a negative impact on the confidence of electors and campaigners, but they may also have a significant impact on your capacity to manage the election process effectively.

You should ensure that all candidates and agents understand how to raise specific concerns about electoral fraud relating to the election, including what type and level of evidence will be necessary to enable allegations to be investigated by the police. You should also ensure that they understand how allegations will be dealt with, and what information and feedback they should be able to expect about the progress of any investigations.  

The police will investigate any allegations of fraud until, following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), they are either satisfied that no further action is necessary or appropriate, or they forward the case file to the CPS for prosecution. The police should keep you and, where appropriate, the CRO and ERO informed of the progress of the case.   

The College of Policing has produced guidance for policing elections on their website.

Candidates and their agents must follow rules set out in legislation about how much they can spend at an election. We produce guidance for candidates and agents, parties and non-party campaigners outlining rules on spending. This can be found on our website. 

Any queries on election spending should be referred to the Electoral Commission’s Party Election Finance team via email: [email protected] or telephone: 0333 103 1928. 

As GLRO you will need to put in place communication plans to support the delivery of the elections. These plans should support you in effectively liaising with and co-ordinating the work of CROs to ensure the consistent delivery of the poll across Greater London, and with managing stakeholder co-ordination and communication, including media liaison.

When developing your communication plans you should identify and document how you will communicate in relation to key aspects of your approach to managing and co-ordinating the elections, including:

• consulting on and giving guidance and, where appropriate, directions 
• disseminating information
• monitoring CRO planning and performance
• communicating your plans for the processes for which you are responsible, such as  nominations for the election of the Mayor of London and London-wider Assembly Member election
• co-ordinating public awareness activity
• providing advice and support to, and dealing with enquiries from, CROs and their staff

You should establish a schedule of regular meetings with CROs to discuss options and issues, with a view to, where possible, reaching consensus on the decisions you need to make to deliver the elections and meet the identified objectives and success measures. A record of each meeting should be kept as an audit trail of what was discussed and of any decisions made.

You must take such steps as you think appropriate to encourage the participation of electors in the elections, and in carrying out such activity you must have regard to any guidance issued by the Electoral Commission.1

As GLRO you should actively take the lead in promoting and sharing good practice and in co-ordinating awareness activity across Greater London.

Part of this engagement activity should include how the CROs in your area will communicate the voting process and support available for disabled voters in their areas. This should be both directly with local disability organisations and more general signposting to accessible communications, such as providing online versions of documents that are easy-read, compatible with screen-readers, or available in large print.

Your planning should take into account the need to work with CROs to ensure that constituency and London-wide awareness activity is co-ordinated and that clear, consistent messages are communicated effectively to electors.

When preparing the public awareness strategy you should document:

• the identification of your target audience
• the objectives and success measures of the activity
• any risks – and mitigation of those risks
• resources – financial and staffing
• plans for collaborative working with relevant local partners, including experts in the communications department of your local authority

Implementation of your strategy should be included within your overall project plan. We have published a template project plan to assist with your planning:

You should establish a communications network involving a representative of each CRO in your police area to share information and co-ordinate public awareness activity across Greater London. This network can also be used to ensure that any communication relating to specific aspects of the election, such as the verification and counting of votes or the declaration of result, or issues that arise, for example allegations of electoral fraud, are dealt with effectively and consistently across Greater London.

You must publish notices by posting them in a conspicuous place or places within the Greater London area.1  This should include London borough offices, noticeboards, libraries and other public buildings. The notice may also be given in such other manner as you think fit. 

In order to ensure that voters can receive the information they need, in an accessible format and within time for them to cast their vote, you should ensure that any notices that you publish are easily accessible for voters, such as through your local authority website. You should ensure that any notices published on your website are in an accessible format.

If you are making information available on your website you should ensure it is accessible to all voters. For example, if you are providing information in PDF format, you should be aware that if certain steps are not followed when creating PDFs, they may not be compatible with screen readers and other assistive technologies. The UK Government has produced a guide to producing accessible PDFs you can refer to. You could also speak to your authority's equalities officer for advice.

You will also need to consider how you will supply any notices for local publication by the CROs in order to enable timely publication. You should liaise with the CROs to ensure that the notices they are required to publish locally are also made accessible.

In accordance with data protection legislation, you will need to consider whether it is appropriate or necessary for the notices to remain published, on your website or elsewhere, beyond the expiry of the petition period for that election. You will also need to decide who will be responsible for removing them at the appropriate time. You can find more information about this in our guidance on data protection. 

Where the notices serve specific purposes, i.e. advising who will be a candidate at the election, once the election is over, and the opportunity to question that election has passed, they serve no further purpose. Therefore, you should either remove the notices, or remove the personal data contained in the notices, once the petition deadline for the election has passed.

Data protection legislation does permit personal data to be stored for longer periods if the data will be processed solely for archiving purposes in the public interest, or for scientific, historical, or statistical purposes and subject to the implementation of appropriate safeguards. For notices of election results, for example, you should retain these on your website as they are for public interest and historical and statistical purposes.

You should have robust proof-checking processes in place to ensure that there are no errors on the notices you are required to publish. Having robust proof-checking processes in place could help detect any errors and avoid any potential data breaches before they occur.

Translation and formats of notices

You are required, where you consider it appropriate to do so, to ensure that notices are translated or provided in another format.2  You may produce them:3   

• in Braille 
• in languages other than English 
• using graphical representations
• in audio format 
• using any other means of making information accessible

The ballot papers cannot be produced in any language other than English or other than in the prescribed format. However, both the enlarged hand copy and the display copies of the ballot paper must have the instructions for voters printed at the top of the paper,3  and these words may be translated into languages other than English.

As part of the mayoral booklet, you should provide information to voters which may include information about the office of the Mayor and the London Assembly, the system of voting, how to vote (i.e. how to mark the ballot papers) and any other information that may encourage electoral participation. The information to voters included in the booklet must be agreed with the Commission.1  Further information on the production of the booklet and the required content is included in our guidance.

In order to effectively communicate information to electors you should consider who you want to reach through your awareness activity and the method of communication to be used. You should also take into account any national registration campaign being carried out by the Electoral Commission and seek to co-ordinate activity across London with the national activity as appropriate. 

You should ensure that all outgoing communications provide appropriate contact details to allow anyone to respond and obtain further information. You should consider what contact details are most appropriate in each case, working with CROs and their staff as required.

The public may also proactively make enquiries and you need to consider how a consistent approach to addressing such enquires can be achieved. You could, for example, consider developing agreed responses to FAQs for front line staff, so voters receive consistent messages across Greater London

As GLRO you are responsible for all aspects of the nomination process at the Mayor of London election and the election of London-wide Assembly Members1 . 

Your project plan should include details on how you will engage with political parties, candidates and agents and how you will manage the nominations process.

It should be straightforward for those campaigning to participate in elections. As GLRO you are responsible for putting in place an effective communication plans to ensure that parties, candidates and agents at the Mayor of London and London-wide Assembly Member election are provided with clear and timely information – including information about local arrangements – to enable them to engage effectively in the election process. You will need to work with CROs to co-ordinate engagement with candidates and agents both locally and at a London-wide level. You should also liaise with CROs to ensure they provide information and briefings to candidates and agents at the Constituency Assembly Member election. In particular you should ensure that all candidates and agents receive consistent information across Greater London. 

You should liaise with the CROs to determine what information on local processes you require for sharing with parties, candidates and agents at the Mayor of London election and the election of London-wide Assembly Members and to agree how this information can best be disseminated.

You should take steps at an early stage to develop an estimate of how many candidates might stand for election as this can have a significant impact on various elements of the electoral process, including the printing of ballot papers, nominations and the verification and count. In order to develop this estimate, and to keep it under review, you should consider how many candidates stood at the last GLA elections, make early contact with political parties, monitor any expressions of interest and, in due course, monitor requests for nomination packs. 

There may be a significant number of new or less experienced political parties, candidates and agents who are unfamiliar with the practices and processes of standing for election and who will need your support to be able to participate effectively. It is therefore important that you engage parties, candidates and agents as much as possible so that they receive all the information they need in order to stand for election and they can have confidence that the processes are well-managed. 

It is vital that all candidates know what they need to do in order to stand for election, what the spending limits are, how they can obtain the electoral registers and what the restrictions are on the use of the registers, including data protection considerations. One difficulty you are likely to face is that those intending to stand for election do not always make contact with the elections staff before submitting their nomination papers. You will therefore need to consider how you are going to raise awareness and promote the availability of information and briefings to all parties, candidates and agents before they complete and submit their nomination papers. 

You should ensure that candidates and election agents are offered a briefing session on the election processes, including local arrangements. 

You should also hold an additional briefing session after the list of candidates standing for election has been confirmed after the close of nominations.

As a minimum, your briefing should cover:

• the nomination process
• the election process
• election spending
• accessing the electoral register
• equipment provided to polling stations that makes voting easier for disabled people
• handling of postal votes restrictions on the handling of postal voting documents by campaigners
• the Code of conduct for campaigners in Great Britain 

You  should also inform candidates and agents that Voter Identification requirements are in place for this poll.

You will also need to work with CROs and BROs to decide how information about local arrangements will be provided to parties, candidates and agents. . 

Local arrangements will included details from CROs and BROs such as their contact details and information on the dates, times and venues, including: 

• postal vote issues and openings
• polling day  including the equipment provided to polling stations that makes voting easier for disabled people 
• the verification and count

You could decide to collate and disseminate local information centrally, or to advise parties, candidates and agents to contact the relevant CRO/BRO directly. Whatever method you choose you should ensure that parties, candidates and agents can easily access all the information they need in order to be able to participate in the elections.

You should ensure that parties, candidates and election agents are offered a briefing session on the elections processes specific to the election they are standing in, including local arrangements. The briefings should allow for the fact that there may be people who have little or no knowledge of election rules and procedures or who have not involved themselves in elections for some time. 

While you should invite all potential parties and candidates to a briefing session ahead of or at the start of the nominations period, you may choose to hold an additional briefing session after the list of parties and candidates (as appropriate) standing for election has been confirmed after the close of nominations.

All briefing sessions should highlight the importance of following the election rules. 

Your briefing session(s) should also highlight any security arrangements that have been put in place in consultation with the police. You may wish to invite your police single point of contact (SPOC) to attend any briefing sessions, or to provide written material that you can provide to parties, candidates and agents.

You should also work with CROs, to determine whether they should provide briefings in their constituency area and agree the content of any such briefing sessions, which could include their local arrangements, such as details of postal vote issues, postal vote openings and the poll and cover information on the verification and count.

We have produced a template presentation for candidates and agents, which may be used as a basis for briefing candidates and agents.

Providing written information

You should ensure that all  parties, candidates and election agents have access to written guidance on the election process, including local arrangements, and that the information is provided in good time to enable parties, candidates and agents to act on it. As set out in our guidance on communicating with Candidates and Agents you should work with CROs to ensure that candidates at the Mayor of London election and candidates and parties at the election of London-wide Assembly Members have easy access to information on any processes that are to be carried out locally, such as the opening of postal votes. 

The purpose of providing written guidance is so that parties, candidates and agents have access to authoritative and comprehensive guidance for reference at any time to ensure that they have all the information they need to take part in an election. 

Where appropriate, you can provide parties, candidates and agents with a link to where they can find the relevant information online and it will be for you to ensure in each case that candidates and agents can easily access the information they need and to do whatever is necessary to facilitate this. 

You should also direct candidates and agents to the Commission’s guidance for candidates and agents at Greater London Authority elections, which is available on our website.

Accessibility

You should ensure that candidates and agents can easily access all the information they need in order to be able to participate in the election.

You should bear in mind that candidates and agents may have specific access needs, and so may need any information or guidance produced in a large-print or other format, such as Braille or audio, or in a language other than English.

You should also consider that candidates and agents may have special requirements to support their attendance at briefings and you should make briefings available online or via video conference wherever possible. 

You can record your briefing and make this available online for candidates and agents to watch on demand at their convenience, with details of how they can ask any follow up questions afterwards included.

However, you will also need to consider how you will offer briefings to those who are unable to, or uncomfortable with, accessing such information online, which may require you to provide some in-person briefings. You should inform candidates and agents of your proposed approach early to assist with your planning and preparation. Those interested in receiving a briefing should be asked to register in advance so that you can track numbers as well as accessibility requirements, which will enable you to tailor your approach and put the appropriate arrangements in place.

Candidates are required by law to follow certain rules regarding:

• how much they can spend 
• who they can accept donations from 
• what they must report after the election1

You should ensure that parties, candidates and election agents have access to information on the spending limit, spending returns and declarations in order to enable them to meet reporting requirements. 

We have produced guidance for candidates and agents on spending and donations, which you can use to provide provide candidates and agents with information on spending limits and donation controls, as well as returns and declarations in order to enable them to meet their reporting requirements.

Our briefing for candidates and agents provides you with an opportunity to provide further guidance on election spending.

Mayor of London, constituency Assembly Member and individual London-wide Assembly Member candidates can, for electoral purposes, request a copy of the full register and absent voters’ lists for the area in which they are standing:1  
 

• candidates at the Mayor of London election are entitled to a copy of the full register for all boroughs in Greater London
• individual candidates at the London-wide Assembly Member election are entitled to a copy of the full register for all boroughs in Greater London
• constituency Assembly Member candidates are entitled to a copy of the full register for those boroughs which fall within the constituency in which they are standing

Candidates on a party list at the London-wide Assembly Member election are not entitled to receive a copy of the registers: it is the election agent who will be entitled to receive a copy of the full register for all boroughs in Greater London.

Registers can only be supplied if the candidate (or in the case of a party list, the election agent) has made a written request.

While the legal responsibility for receiving requests and supplying registers to candidates’ rests with the relevant ERO, you should start discussions with EROs at an early stage to determine how best to ensure that all candidates can be supplied with registers in such a way that they have timely and easy access to them, and decide how this will be communicated.

For example, you could decide to supply the registers centrally on behalf of the EROs as part of the nomination pack for the Mayor of London and London-wide Assembly Member contests. The benefit of this approach is that it could operate so that candidates would only need to complete one request form covering all voting areas and receive their registers from a single place, instead of having to approach each ERO separately with individual requests.

If you are considering supplying the registers centrally, you will have to discuss and agree with the EROs how the various registers could be brought together for subsequent supply and consider how this would work for both printed and data copies. The registers must be supplied in data form unless a printed copy has been specifically requested.2  You will need to ensure that whatever arrangements you put in place are clearly communicated to the candidates and their agents to enable them to use the registers to campaign and obtain the necessary subscribers. 

The media plays an important role in providing information to voters on the election. It is important that media communication is managed in a co-ordinated and consistent way across Greater London in order to maintain public confidence that the election is being well-run. To achieve this effectively there should be a clear process in place for the police area to be followed by you, CROs and your respective communications teams to respond to any issues that arise.

You should ensure that stakeholder co-ordination and communication is embedded throughout your planning, with particular arrangements in place for working with the media, including:

• plans for co-ordinating media liaison across Greater London, and strategies for dealing with both proactive communication and media liaison in relation to specific events such as the verification and counting of votes and the result declaration
• processes for dealing with general media enquiries
• plans for reactive handling of any issues that arise in relation to the election, for example allegations of electoral fraud 

Observers accredited by the Commission are entitled to observe:

• the issue and receipt of postal ballot papers
• the poll
• the verification and counting of the votes
• the collation of the result of the election of the Mayor of London and London-wide Assembly Member election1  

Your project plan should include processes to manage potential enquiries from observers and to support their attendance at the electoral processes they are entitled to attend. This should include providing observers with information on the location and timing of the above processes.

Commission representatives are also entitled to observe these processes and, in addition, are entitled to observe your working practices.2

Accredited observers and Commission representatives do not need to give advance notification of where they intend to observe, but will carry with them a photographic identification card issued by the Commission.

Quick guide to the observer badge types

Observer badge type	Who are they?	Access
	Electoral Commission representatives	Same as candidates and agents, plus access to the issue of postal votes, and working practices of the GLRO, CRO and ERO
	Observers accredited by the Commission	Same as candidates and agents, plus access to the issue of postal votes

If you are in doubt about the status of a particular individual seeking to gain access to election processes, you can check the registers of observers on the Commission’s website. 

You have a legal duty to have regard to the Code of practice for electoral observers when managing the attendance of observers.3 Observers will have agreed to comply with the standards of behaviour set out in the Commission’s Code of practice. If you think there has been a breach of the Code of practice, please inform your local Commission team. 

For more information on the role of observers see our guidance for accredited electoral observers.

It is vital to the delivery of the election that voters can receive the information they need, without errors, in an accessible format and within time for them to take necessary action in relation to their vote. 

This guidance provides an overview of the legal requirements relating to the function of the Greater London Returning Officer (GLRO) and their coordination with Constituency Returning Officers (CROs) for poll cards, ballot papers, and absent voting arrangements. It also includes information to help you quality-assure the process of producing voter materials, including guidance on proof-checking and on working with suppliers and contractors.

Constituency Returning Officers (CROs) are required by law to send out combined poll cards for the Mayor of London election, the London-wide Assembly Member election and the Constituency Assembly Member election as soon as practicable after the publication of the notice of election.1

In order to ensure that voters receive the same information at a similar time regardless of where they live in Greater London, you should liaise and agree with CROs on timings for the delivery of poll cards.

You can find more information on the production of poll cards  in our guidance for CROs delivering GLA elections.
 

You should commence the printing of ballot papers as soon as possible after the nomination processes have been completed, the deadline for withdrawals has passed, and final proofs have been signed off.

You must supply the ballot papers to the CRO for the Mayor of London election, the election of London-wide Assembly Members and the Constituency Assembly Member election by a date agreed between you and the CRO.1

You should provide CROs and BROs with information as soon as possible about how the ballot papers will be delivered to them for issue in postal ballot packs and use in polling stations. Data protection considerations and effective management of contractors and suppliers will be critical.  
 

The form and content of each ballot paper is prescribed in the relevant election rules and you must follow this precisely.1 Ballot papers for each election for postal voters and for polling station use must be the same in form, except that the official mark may be different if desired.2   

Although the final content of the ballot papers cannot be confirmed until nominations have closed, in addition to confirming the colours, you will need to make decisions about the following elements of the ballot papers at an early stage:

• ballot paper numbers
• unique identifying mark 
• the ‘official mark’

You may use a different official mark for different purposes at each election. That means that you could choose one official mark for all ballot papers, or you could choose to have different official marks, e.g. for polling station ballot papers and ballot papers issued to postal voters.

You are also required to provide CROs with the enlarged sample copy of a ballot paper so that it can be displayed at every polling station.3 The colour of the enlarged sample ballot paper must be the same colour as the actual ballot paper for the relevant election.4  

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 the data between yourself and the CROs. 

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

Although data protection legislation does not require a written agreement when sharing data between data controllers, it is strongly recommended that you agree a data sharing protocol with the CROs. 

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

If you 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;
• duration of the processing; and
• 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.

Printing of ballot papers

The ballot papers must be printed in accordance with the directions for printing in the schedule of forms in the relevant election rules.5 You should ensure that you check with your print supplier at an early stage to establish the maximum size of ballot papers that they can print and if necessary, have contingency arrangements in place in the event that a larger ballot paper is required.  

Managing multiple contests

The preparation of ballot papers for multiple contests requires that particular care should be taken to ensure the correct information appears on the ballot paper in line with that provided in the statements of persons or parties nominated. 

This includes checking names, address or relevant area information, parties or any descriptions. You should refer to our guidance on quality assurance and proof checking of election materials for more information on managing this process. 
 

Ballot paper colour

The colour of the ballot papers is not prescribed, nor is the colour to be used for tendered ballot papers, although tendered ballot papers must be a different colour from the ordinary ballot papers.1

The ballot papers for the Mayor of London election, the election for London-wide Assembly Members and the Constituency Member election must be different colours.2

As GLRO you should decide early on what colour the ballot papers will be and work closely with all CROs to agree the colour to be used. Different coloured ballot papers must be used for each poll. You should also consider consulting print suppliers about the colour to ensure that your choice does not give rise to supply or production difficulties.

We understand that you have determined the following ballot paper colours for each contest:

In deciding on the ballot paper colour you should take into account accessibility issues relating to colour and contrast. Section 6 of the Commission’s Marking your mark good practice design guidance contains advice on choosing colours. 

The ‘official mark’

The official mark is a security mark that must be added to ballot papers.3   

The official mark:

• can be the same for all ballot papers at an election, or different official marks can be used for different purposes at the same election, for example one for postal votes and another for polling station ballot papers
• the official mark cannot be re-used for five years at any GLA election4

The mark should be distinctive. It could be a printed emblem or mark or a special printing device such as a watermark. It could also be a perforation added at the time of issue of the ballot paper, if stamping instruments are used to create a perforating official mark. 

The mark should be capable of being seen on the front of the ballot paper so that it can be seen without having to turn the ballot paper over. 

Ballot paper numbers 

Ballot paper numbers should run consecutively, but do not have to start at ‘1’. Ballot paper numbers should be unique, and should not be reused, for example the polling station, postal vote and tendered ballot papers should all be numbered differently.

Unique identifying mark (UIM)

The unique identifying mark (UIM) can be made up of letters and numbers and could be a repeat of the ballot paper number with the addition of a prefix or a suffix. The UIM can instead be, but does not have to be, a barcode. It is important to remember that the UIM is not the same as the official mark. 

The UIM:5

• should be unique for each ballot paper
• can be re-used at the next poll
• must be printed on the back of the ballot paper

Form of the reverse of the ballot paper

The form of the reverse of the ballot paper is prescribed6  and you must ensure that the required information is included on the ballot paper reverse in the specified format. There is no provision to put any hatching or other marks on the back of the ballot paper.

Candidate / party details

In all cases you should use the maximum possible sizes of font and to ensure consistency, the same font size should be used for each candidate or party for each equivalent line.

Mayor of London election

Candidates must appear on the ballot paper as listed as in the statement of persons nominated. Their names and relevant details must appear according to the directions for printing.1   

Constituency Assembly Member election

Candidates must appear on the ballot paper as listed as in the statement of persons nominated. Their name and relevant details must appear according to the directions for printing. 2

London –wide Assembly Member election

The ballot paper must contain the authorised descriptions of the registered parties together with any individual London-wide Assembly Member candidates’ names and relevant details as shown in the statement of persons and parties nominated. These must appear according to the directions for printing.3   

Where a party is submitting a party list, the description of each party must appear in lower case with initial capitals.4  

You can find more information on the relevant candidate details listed in the statements of persons and parties nominated in our guidance. 

Candidate name

Candidate surnames must appear in capital letters,5 including the capitalisation of surnames beginning with MAC or MC and the names should follow strict alphabetisation e.g. MABBOT, MACLEAN, MATTHEWS, MCCORMICK, MORRISON.

Where a candidate has listed multiple names as their surname, either hyphenated or not, you should reproduce the whole name as provided. For example Dick Van Dyke would appear as VAN DYKE, Dick on the ballot paper and for alphabetisation purposes their surname would start with a V. 

Similarly, Ann Smith-Jones would be SMITH-JONES, Ann on the ballot paper and would be listed as an S for alphabetisation purposes.

Emblems

Party list submissions and  candidates can request the use of a party emblem on the ballot paper. In these cases you may be provided with a high-resolution copy of the emblem for use in the printing of ballot papers. Alternatively you may need to download the emblem from our website. You should ensure that whatever copy is used is in the same form as the registered emblem. 

The maximum size of an emblem on the ballot paper is two centimetres square.6 Do not alter or distort the shape of the emblem to fit the ballot paper. You should ensure that the emblem is in the same form as the registered emblem – for example, do not stretch emblems into square shapes if they are not registered as square images on our website, as this would have the effect of altering their appearance.

In your early discussions with your print supplier you must carefully consider the number of ballot papers that will need to be printed to allow you to allocate a sufficient number of ballot papers to polling stations and issue postal ballot packs. This will also enable sufficient paper stocks to be procured. 

You should base your print-run on 100% turnout of eligible electors. There are significant risks attached to printing ballot papers based on lower turnout levels. For example, if the CRO starts running out of ballot papers on polling day it will be more difficult at that stage to print additional ballot papers and send these to the affected polling stations in a timely manner. 

If you decide for any reason not to print ballot papers based on 100% turnout of eligible electorate, you should carefully assess the risks.

As part of your risk assessment you should consider:

• the particular context of these polls
• any particular local circumstances 
• projected turnout – taking into account the potential for late engagement and interest in the election by which point scope for adjusting plans will be limited – as a minimum you should assume that the turnout will be not less than the turnout at the last equivalent polls
• any local or national issues which may affect turnout
• whether having a stock of additional ballot papers ready for rapid delivery to polling stations is preferable, in terms of the ability to respond to additional demand, and more cost effective than printing ballot papers on polling day

You should also take steps to ensure that additional ballot papers can be printed at short notice if required and decide how CROs should brief polling station staff should this situation occur
 

It is vital that you undertake careful and thorough checks of all draft proofs of your election materials before they are signed off and ready to be printed and dispatched. This is often a very time-consuming and time-critical stage of the process as your suppliers will be working to tight timetables and will likely give you hard deadlines.

You should decide who from your team will be involved in the checking of proofs and the quality assurance of the production process. It is possible that you will need a number of team members to play a role, and it may be helpful to involve others not as close to the raw candidate information or base proofs to ensure that nothing has been missed.

Where possible, it is helpful to ensure that more than one person checks each set of proofs before approving them to ensure that errors are spotted. This can be especially helpful in mitigating the risk of errors being made when turning around a large number of proofs in a short timeframe. 

You can carry out checks in person by attending the premises of your supplier and accessing your printed material directly, though some suppliers may offer to conduct these checks for you as part of their service instead. 

Where you are using suppliers to conduct checks, you must ensure that you get a detailed breakdown of what print quality checks are being undertaken. 

These should include:

• checking that the printed material is accurate by checking against a specimen copy of the final signed off live proof for each version of the material  
• where necessary, checking that all personalised text has been printed correctly

Alternatively, you may have materials sent to you for checking before they are despatched from your premises. 

You should produce guidance notes for those members of staff checking election materials.

You will forward the constituency Assembly member ballot papers to the relevant CRO for checking and approval.

Checking base text

You should ensure that you check the base text of all material carefully; this is the text that will not change, regardless of contest, number or details of candidates, or elector information. 

For efficiency, some suppliers may produce your proofs from templates used for previous polls. Do not presume that the information output by your electoral software management system will automatically be correct. For example, there may have been legislative or boundary changes, or changes to your contact information. It is your responsibility to check that all the information is accurate and also that the election materials comply with all legislative requirements. 

Checking live proofs

You should have in place a process for checking live proofs of all forms of election material at the print stage to check that there are no errors and that they are being printed to the required specification. 

This should include items that have smaller print runs too, such as tendered ballot papers, postal proxies or additional postal vote print runs to include those who applied after the initial data files were provided. 

You need to decide how many items will be checked for each item/print-run/fill. As a minimum, for print checks, at least the first and last item for each version of the item should be checked to ensure that the print runs start and end as expected. 

Carrying out checks at the live proof stage will allow staff to check that the print run reflects the latest approved version of the item which will highlight if any of the signed-off proofs have been inadvertently altered, that there is no bleeding of ink and that the print quality is good and consistent.

You are likely to have many different sets of proofs for the same item, so you should be checking that the variable text on each set of proofs has been correctly included. It is helpful to have a spreadsheet of all the variable text per version ready for checking against. This could include, for example, a sheet containing:

• a list of all of your contested elections
• the number of vacancies per election
• candidate names, address or relevant area information, descriptions and emblems 

It is important to pay particular attention to emblems as many may look similar at first glance. You should proof any spreadsheets to be used for quality assurance purposes against original data, such as nomination papers. 

You should keep a record of stationery that has been checked to provide a clear audit trail of the processes that have been undertaken and which you can refer back to, should any issues subsequently arise.

When producing guidance to support your staff with proof checking election materials, particular attention should be paid to checking that that:

• every detail on all printing materials is spelt correctly
• electors’ names and addresses are accurate and match those on the electoral register / absent voting lists
• materials being sent to electors are the correct ones for them (e.g. the ballot paper is the correct one for their electoral area; postal proxies are being sent postal proxy poll cards) 
  where relevant, the correct deadlines appear (for example, for postal/proxy applications on poll cards)
• where a form is prescribed, that it meets the prescribed requirements 

For the ballot papers, you should also check that: 

• the directions for printing have been followed precisely
• the official mark and unique identifying mark are correctly printed
• the ballot papers include the details of all validly nominated candidates for that particular electoral area; as part of this you should check that:
  • all candidate names (or commonly used name(s) where relevant) are correct
  • where relevant, party names, descriptions and emblems are correct and as registered on the Commission’s register of political parties 
  • the instructions at the top of each ballot paper are the correct ones for the electoral area

For the postal voting statement(s), you should also check that: 

• the correct ballot paper numbers are printed 
• the correct voting instructions for the electoral area are included

When you receive the printed ballot paper books, you should carry out a final check before any ballot papers are issued to the CRO. 

When carrying out final quality assurance checks of the printed ballot paper books, you should check that:

• the first and last ballot paper in every book and by checking that the ballot paper numbers in each book or packet run sequentially
• every detail on the ballot paper is spelt correctly
• every emblem that has been validly requested has been included beside the correct candidate and matches the party’s entry in the Commission’s register
• all candidate / party descriptions have been printed in the line for the correct candidate / party 
• the voting instructions at the top of the ballot paper match the legislative requirements
• the ballot papers have been cut to the correct size
• the official mark has been included

You should also ask CROs to undertake similar checks against both the ballot papers and the filled postal vote packs before despatch. 
 

You must ensure the security of ballot papers during production, storage and delivery to the CRO. Once the official mark is printed on the ballot papers, they are effectively ‘live’. 

Regardless of whether you have outsourced your printing or are printing in-house, in order to ensure that voters can have confidence in the process, your security arrangements should prevent unauthorised access to or use of the ballot papers. 

These restrictions should apply during all stages of the production process, storage and distribution between printing and the poll.

You can find further information in our guidance on planning for ballot paper security. 

You should consider how you are going to work with CROs and BROs to ensure that all absent voters across the police area receive a consistently high quality of service, irrespective of where they are registered. 

A direction is in place to ensure that all CROs and BROs issue their postal votes no earlier than 12 April 2024 and as soon as is reasonably practicable after that. 

This direction is to allow postal voters to receive their mayoral election address booklet before casting their votes.  

This section of the guidance covers explains the statutory actions that must take place to enable the election timetable to formally commence.

This includes:

• the publication of the notice of election 
• the publication of polling station notices.

Mayor of London election

You must publish the notice of election by not later than 30 working days before polling day in each Assembly constituency.1 You should also provide the CRO for each Assembly constituency council with a copy of the notice for local publication.

The notice of election must include the following:2  

• the place and times at which nomination papers can be delivered, and at which nomination papers may be obtained 
• where you have decided to accept electronic payments, the arrangements for electronic payment of deposits
• the date of the poll if the election is contested
• the date by which applications for absent votes (including emergency proxies) and any cancellations or changes to existing absent voting arrangements must reach the ERO in order to be effective for the election

The notice should also include the date by which applications for registration and Voter Authority Certificates or Anonymous Elector's Documents must reach the ERO in order to be effective for the election. 

You should also consider including the requirements and deadlines for the submission of election addresses. 

The address given for the delivery of nomination papers should be exact, and include any room number. This will avoid any doubt should nominations be delivered close to the deadline. All reception staff at offices of the building and other connected buildings should be informed that they should not take receipt of nomination papers.

Election of London-wide Assembly Members

You must publish the notice of election by not later than 30 working days before polling day in each Assembly constituency.3 You should also provide the CRO for each Assembly constituency council with a copy of the notice for local publication.

The notice of election must include the following:4  

• the place and times at which nomination papers and party lists can be delivered, and at which nomination papers and party lists may be obtained 
• where you have decided to accept electronic payments, the arrangements for electronic payment of deposits
• the date of the poll if the election is contested
• the date by which applications for absent votes (including emergency proxies) and any cancellations or changes to existing absent voting arrangements must reach the ERO in order to be effective for the election

The notice should also include the date by which applications for registration and Voter Authority Certificates or Anonymous Elector's Documents must reach the ERO in order to be effective for the election. 

You should also consider including the requirements and deadlines for the submission of election addresses. 

The address given for the delivery of nomination papers should be exact, and include any room number. This will avoid any doubt should nominations be delivered close to the deadline. All reception staff at offices of the building and other connected buildings should be informed that they should not take receipt of nomination papers.

The CRO is responsible for publishing the Notice of Election for the Constituency member election. 

You are required to prepare and provide each CRO with notices for display in polling booths, and outside and inside polling stations.1 The contents and format of the notices for the guidance of voters are prescribed.2   

The notice entitled ‘How to vote at this election’ must be printed in conspicuous characters and exhibited outside and inside each polling station The ‘instruction for voters’ notice is required to be displayed inside every polling station and in every polling booth.3  

You may also provide versions of these notices in alternative languages or formats as you think appropriate and, if the CRO agrees, these may also be exhibited inside and outside the polling station.4 You should liaise with CROs to identify what the alternative language and format requirements are across the Greater London area.

The contents and format of the notices are prescribed in the election rules and cover information relating to all three contests, but each notice may if you decide include alternative information relating to the GLA elections as long as it conforms with the legislative requirements for notices.

As GLRO you are responsible for the administration of a nomination process at the Mayor of London election and the election of London-wide Assembly Members, and enabling them to have confidence in the management of the election.  

The following guidance is designed to support you in the decisions you will need to take to manage the nomination process efficiently and effectively. It includes information on the requirements for nomination including candidate details, deposits and methods of delivery, guidance to support the processing and determining of nominations, and guidance on the processes to be followed after the close of nominations such as the publishing of official notices. It also includes information on the actions required following the death of a candidate.

Providing information on the nomination process to candidates and agents

There may be new or less experienced candidates, agents and political parties who are unfamiliar with the practices and processes of standing for election and who will need your support to be able to participate effectively. 

As part of your preparations for the polls, you will have put plans in place to ensure that you offer all potential candidates and agents a briefing session before or at the start of the nomination period, and that they are also issued with written guidance on the election process in good time to enable them to act on it. Details of what the briefings and written information should include, and links to template briefings, can be found in our guidance on providing information to political parties, candidates and agents.
 

Questions of eligibility or disqualification are for the candidate only and you should not give advice on such matters. The candidate should be directed to the joint Commission/London Elects guidance for candidates and agents in the first instance. Should they have any further concerns, they should be advised to seek their own legal advice.

You should prepare a nomination pack for anyone who expresses an interest in standing in the Mayor of London or London-wide Assembly election. 

We have provided guidance on what must be included in a nomination pack for the Mayor of London and London-wide Assembly elections.

Information for candidates and agents is available in our guidance.

The nomination pack for a candidate in the Mayor of London election should contain:

• a nomination form
• a home address form
• a consent to nomination form
• a form for the candidate (or someone on their behalf) to give notice of appointment of an election agent
• forms for the election agent to give notice of appointment of sub-agents 
• forms for the candidate or election agent to give notice of appointment of polling agents, postal voting agents and counting agents
• a certificate of authorisation to allow a candidate to stand on behalf of a registered political party
• a form for a candidate standing on behalf of a registered political party to request the use of an emblem 
• details of how the deposit should be paid, including acceptable methods of payment
• written guidance for candidates and agents covering key aspects of the electoral process, including the qualifications and disqualifications for election, the nominations process, campaigning dos and don’ts, accessing electoral proceedings and what happens after the declaration of the result 
• details of how to obtain a copy of the electoral register and the absent voters’ lists for each London borough,1 and forms to make such requests with information on where to send these requests to. You should highlight that the information contained in the electoral register and absent voting lists may on be used in accordance with the Representation of the People Regulations 2001 and in accordance with data protection legislation.
• information on the spending limit for candidates at the election and guidance for candidates and agents on spending and donations
• information on local arrangements 
• a copy of the Code of conduct for campaigners in Great Britain which sets out what is, and is not considered acceptable behaviour at polling stations, when encouraging electors to vote by post or proxy, and in the community. You may identify the need to develop and seek agreements to specific local provisions which supplement the terms of the Code in order to address identified local risks.
• any other relevant information

Party lists at the London-wide Assembly Member election

The nomination pack for party list candidates at the London-wide Assembly Member should contain:

• a nomination form (including the authorisation to use the registered party name or a registered description)
• home address form
• consent to nomination forms
• a form for the Nominating Officer (or someone authorised on their behalf) to give notice of appointment of an election agent
• forms for the election agent to give notice of appointment of sub-agents 
• forms for the election agent to give notice of appointment of polling agents, postal voting agents and counting agents
• a form for the Nominating Officer (or someone authorised on their behalf) to request the use of an emblem 
• details of how the deposit should be paid, including acceptable methods of payment
  written guidance for parties, candidates and agents covering key aspects of the electoral process, including the qualifications and disqualifications for election, the nominations process, campaigning dos and don’ts, accessing electoral proceedings and what happens after the declaration of the result 
• details of how to obtain a copy of the electoral register and the absent voters’ lists for each London borough, and forms to make such requests with information on where to send these requests to. You should highlight that the information contained in the electoral register and absent voting lists may on be used in accordance with the Representation of the People Regulations 2001 and in accordance with data protection legislation.
• information on the spending limit for candidates at the election and guidance for candidates and agents on spending and donations
• a copy of the Code of conduct for campaigners in Great Britain which sets out what is, and is not considered acceptable behaviour at polling stations, when encouraging electors to vote by post or proxy, and in the community. You may identify the need to develop and seek agreements to specific local provisions which supplement the terms of the Code in order to address identified local risks.
• information on local arrangements 
• any other relevant information

Individual London-wide Assembly Members candidates

The nomination pack for individual London-wide Assembly Member candidates should contain:

• a nomination form
• a home address form
• a consent to nomination form
• a form for the candidate (or someone on their behalf) to give notice of appointment of an election agent
• forms for the election agent to give notice of appointment of sub-agents 
• forms for the candidate or election agent to give notice of appointment of polling agents, postal voting agents and counting agents
• details of how the deposit should be paid, including acceptable methods of payment
  written guidance for candidates and agents covering key aspects of the electoral process, including the qualifications and disqualifications for election, the nominations process, campaigning dos and don’ts, accessing electoral proceedings and what happens after the declaration of the result 
• details of how to obtain a copy of the electoral register and the absent voters’ lists for each London borough, and forms to make such requests with information on where to send these requests to. You should highlight that the information contained in the electoral register and absent voting lists may on be used in accordance with the Representation of the People Regulations 2001 and in accordance with data protection legislation.
• information on the spending limit for candidates at the election and guidance for candidates and agents on spending and donations
• a copy of the Code of conduct for campaigners in Great Britain which sets out what is, and is not considered acceptable behaviour at polling stations, when encouraging electors to vote by post or proxy, and in the community. You may identify the need to develop and seek agreements to specific local provisions which supplement the terms of the Code in order to address identified local risks
• information on local arrangements 
• any other relevant information

Mayor of London election

A candidate is deemed to be validly nominated only if you have, by 4pm on the 24th working day before poll, received a deposit of £10,000 and the following completed forms:1

• the nomination form
• a home address form
• a consent to nomination

To stand on behalf of a registered political party, the party must be registered on the Commission’s register of political parties and be listed as allowed to field candidates in England.2 The candidate will also need to submit: 

• a certificate of authorisation, authorising the use of the party’s registered name or one of the party’s registered descriptions.3 This must match the party name or description given on the nomination form or the whole nomination must be held to be invalid.
• a written request to use one of the party’s registered emblems (if desired)

Election of London-wide Assembly Members – party list candidates

A party and each candidate included on the party list are deemed to be validly nominated only if you have, by 4pm on the 24th working day before poll, received a deposit of £5,000 and the following completed forms:4  

• the nomination form
• home address forms
• a consent to nomination from each candidate on the list

The party must be registered on the Commission’s register of political parties at http://search.electoralcommission.org.uk and be listed as allowed to field candidates in England.5

The nomination form must:6  

• State the authorised description by which the registered party is to stand for election.
• Include a statement signed by the person issuing the nomination form that it is issued either by the party’s registered Nominating Officer or by a person authorised in writing to act on their behalf. If the nomination form is signed by a person other than the Nominating Officer a copy of the authorisation should be supplied to you.
• Be accompanied by a party list which sets out the full names and home addresses of each candidate included in the party list.

If a party wishes to have one of the party’s registered emblems printed on the ballot paper, the Nominating Officer (or a person authorised on their behalf) must7   also submit to you a written request to use one of the party’s registered emblems by 4pm on the 24th working day before poll.

Election of London-wide Assembly Members – individual candidates

A candidate is deemed to be validly nominated only if you have, by 4pm on the 24th working day before poll, received a deposit of £5,000 and the following completed forms:8

• the nomination form
• a home address form
• a consent to nomination

Production of nomination papers

Nomination forms can only be produced in English, and not in any alternative languages or formats. You are required by law to prepare mayoral nomination forms for signature on request. If a Nominating Officer or candidate asks for assistance in completing their nomination papers you should, where possible, offer it.  

Candidates and parties do not have to use the nomination forms that you have produced, as long as their nomination form is as prescribed.9   

Candidate’s names

The candidate’s full names must be listed on the nomination form for the Mayor of London election and the London-wide Assembly Member election.1 Their surname must be given first, followed by all of their other names in full. 

Prefixes and suffixes

The nomination form does not prescribe a space for prefixes or suffixes. 

Candidates should be advised not to include prefixes or suffixes such as Mr, Mrs, Dr or Cllr, or suffixes such as OBE or MBA in the field of the nomination form asking for their full name. If a prefix or suffix is included as part of the actual name the nomination form would not be invalid as a result, but the prefix or suffix should not be transferred to the statement of persons (and parties) nominated.

If a candidate has submitted a nomination form with a prefix or suffix as part of their actual name, you should inform the candidate and their agent or, in the case of a party list, the Nominating Officer (or person authorised on their behalf) that their nomination has not been affected, but that the prefix or suffix will not appear on the relevant statement of persons (and parties) nominated, the notice of poll or, where relevant, the ballot paper.

The only exception to this is where a prefix or suffix has been included as part of a commonly used name and that is how the candidate claims to be commonly known.

Where a candidate commonly uses a different name from their actual name, or  commonly uses their names in a different way to those stated on the nomination paper, they can ask for their commonly used name(s) to be used instead of their actual name.1  

A candidate can request to use a commonly used forename, surname or both. They may also use initials as part of their commonly used name if they are commonly known by them.

For example, they may be known by their abbreviated name ‘Andy’, rather than their full first name ‘Andrew’. In that case, they can write ‘Andy’ into the commonly used forename box on the nomination form if they would rather that name appear on the ballot paper.

A candidate with a hyphenated surname may choose to use one part of their surname if this is how they are commonly known. For example, in the case of Andrew Smith-Roberts, he could use Andrew Roberts or Andrew Smith (if either was the name by which he is commonly known).

However, if a candidate has a title, they can use this as their full name. For example, if the candidate’s actual name is Joseph Smith, but their hereditary title is Joseph Avon, they can use the name Joseph Avon as their full name

This table sets out a non-exhaustive list of potential variations:

Decisions on Commonly Used Names

It is not for you to decide whether the commonly used name is a ‘name’ that is commonly used or whether it meets the legal requirements. The law requires you to take whatever has been entered in the commonly used name box at face value and to accept it as the candidate’s commonly used name.

The only grounds you have in law2  for rejecting a commonly used name is that you consider that:

• its use may be likely to mislead or confuse electors, or
• it is obscene or offensive 

It is the responsibility of the candidate or, in the case of a party list, the Nominating Officer (or the person authorised on their behalf), to ensure that they have completed the nomination papers in accordance with the law and to be satisfied that any given commonly used name is a name that the candidate genuinely commonly uses. 

In the course of providing informal advice, you may wish to draw the Nominating Officer's or candidate’s attention to our guidance for candidates and agents  on commonly used names.

The table below contains a number of worked examples of various combinations of commonly used names and how this would affect the appearance of the candidate’s name on the statement of persons nominated, the notice of poll and the ballot paper:

The names of party list candidates do not appear on the ballot papers.

If either the commonly used forenames or commonly used surname box is left blank, then the candidate’s actual forenames or surname, depending on which commonly used name box has been left blank, will go on the statement of persons nominated, the notice of poll and on the ballot paper.

You should advise the candidate that the use of commonly used names applies only to the statement of persons nominated, the notice of poll and the ballot paper. The candidate’s actual name should appear on any documents that are required to show the candidate’s name, such as the imprint and candidate’s spending returns.  

If you refuse the use of a commonly used name, the validity of the nomination form remains unaffected. Instead, the effect is that the candidate's full name will appear on the statement of persons nominated, the notice of poll and the ballot paper. This should be made clear to candidates and agents and you must write to the candidate setting out the reasons for refusing to allow the use of the commonly used name.1  

Mayoral nomination forms must include an indication of support for the candidate from 330 electors registered on the local government electoral register (the ‘subscribers’).1 Each nomination form needs to be subscribed by at least 10 electors from each London borough and the City of London.2  

Each subscriber is required by law to sign the nomination paper in the appropriate place and their electoral number must be included3  in the spaces provided alongside their signature, along with the polling district’s identifying letters. 

Once a nomination form has been formally submitted, even if it is later deemed invalid, the signatures of the subscribers will still count towards the one form that the subscriber may subscribe. 

If, after you have determined a nomination, an elector is later removed from the register or dies before the election (or even before the nomination is delivered) their signature remains valid and the nomination is not affected. 

A person who is shown on the register as being under 18 years old at the time of nomination can only subscribe a nomination form if they will be 18 years old on or before polling day.4  

Only the first 10 subscribers from each London Borough or the City of London on any nomination form can be considered. If more subscribers are included, any subsequent names must not be considered at all. If one of the first of the 10 subscribers is invalid, irrespective of whether more subscribers have been added to the nomination form, the nomination must be held invalid.5

Signatures on nomination forms, once given, cannot be withdrawn by subscribers. If a subscriber contacts you to say that they wish to withdraw their subscription, you should inform that that this is not permitted by law and that the subscription remains valid. 

You must reject a nomination if the nomination form is not subscribed as required.6  

Checking subscribers are on the register

Subscribers must appear on the local government register for the relevant electoral area that is in force on the last day for publication of the notice of election. It is essential that the correct version of the register is used for checking that the subscribers are valid.

An elector must not subscribe more than one nomination form for the same Mayor of London election.7 You should have a robust system in place to ensure that no elector subscribes more than one nomination form. 

Any nomination forms delivered subsequently bearing that elector’s signature as a subscriber must be determined as invalid, even where the later nomination form is for the same candidate as the earlier form. However this does not prevent a person subscribing a further nomination paper where the previously nominated candidate has either died or withdrawn.

Planning guidance for the Greater London Returning Officer sets out options for how you can manage this in practice and the practical considerations you should take into account in reaching your decision. 

Whichever approach you take to managing this process, both a hard copy of the register and the electoral management system should be used in order to minimise the risk of missing a subscriber who has subscribed more than one form, with the hard copy of the register physically marked when nominations are formally submitted. 

As you must accept the nomination form at face value, you must accept that the signature made on the nomination form is that of the person listed on the register under the relevant elector number, even if the signature suggests another name. You may draw the attention of the person delivering the paper to the issue if you are concerned, but you must take the elector number and the signature at face value. If after having raised the issue you still have any concerns, you should raise these with your SPOC.

Crossed out subscribers’ names 

Occasionally a mistake is made with the subscribers on a nomination form, and one or more of the names may be crossed out on the form. If the signature and elector number for a subscriber are clearly crossed out, you should ignore it and treat it as if that row did not appear at all. If asked, you should advise that any crossings out should be clear and, ideally, initialled. 

You should not cross out any entry. Where an entry has been crossed out, the first 10 subscribers from each London Borough or the City of London, excluding that entry must still be valid for the nomination to be valid.

All candidates, including those on a party list, are required to complete a home address form,1 which must be delivered by hand with the nomination paper, by the close of nominations. The form is not prescribed but the information that needs to be provided is set out in law. 

On the home address form the candidate must state: 

• their full name 
• the home address in full 
• their qualifying address, or, where they have declared on their consent to nomination that they meet more than one qualification, their qualifying addresses
• which of the qualifications their qualifying address or addresses relate to
• the full name and the home address in full of the witness to the consent to nomination form

The candidate’s home address: 

• must be completed in full 
• must not contain abbreviations 
• must be the candidate’s current home address 
• must not be a business address (unless the candidate runs a business from their home) 

If any detail of the home address is wrong or omitted, the nomination is not automatically invalid if the description of the place is such as to be commonly understood.

Candidates who don’t want their home address to be published

A candidate may choose for their home address not to be published on the statement of persons nominated. 

In this case the home address form must contain, as well as the full name and home address:2

• a statement, signed by the candidate, which states that they require their home address not to be made public 
• if their home address is in the UK, the name of the relevant area in which their home address is situated 
• if their home address is outside of the UK, the name of the country in which their home address is situated 

If by the close of nominations more than one validly nominated candidate has asked for their home address not to be published, you must consider if two or more of them have the same or so similar a name that they are likely to cause confusion. If you consider that this is the case, you may add such details from their home address or nomination form to the statement of persons nominated as you consider appropriate to reduce the likelihood of confusion.3  

Before you make a decision on which details should be included, if it is practicable to do so, you must consult the candidate(s) affected.4  You must then give notice in writing to the affected candidate(s) informing them of the additional information that will be published.

Meaning of qualifying address and relevant area

Qualifying address means:

• where the candidate has selected option (a) on the consent to nomination, the address in full where they are registered as a local government elector for Greater London
• where the candidate has selected option (b) on the consent to nomination, a description and the address of that land or premises in Greater London which they have occupied as owner or tenant
• where candidate has selected option (c) on the consent to nomination, the address of their place of work in Greater London
• where the candidate has selected option (d) on the consent to nomination, the address or addresses in Greater London of where they have resided

Relevant area means:

For home addresses in England:

• if the address is within a district for which there is a district council, that district;
• if the address is within a county in which there are no districts with councils, that county;
• if the address is within a London borough, that London borough;
• if the address is within the City of London (including the Inner and Middle Temples), the City of London; and
• if the address is within the Isles of Scilly, the Isles of Scilly. 

For home addresses in Wales:

• if the address is within a county, that county;
• if the address is within a county borough, that county borough.

For home addresses in Scotland:

• the local government area in which the address is situated.

 For home addresses in Northern Ireland:

• the local government district in which the address is situated.

Inspection of home address forms - Mayoral candidates

You should keep the home address forms secure. During office hours, on any working day in the period starting 24 hours after the close of nominations until the day before the poll only certain people are entitled to inspect home address forms. These people are:

• any person standing nominated as a candidate in the same mayoral election  
• the election agent of any candidate standing nominated in the same mayoral election (or, if the candidate is acting as their own agent, any person nominated by them)
• No more than 2 subscribers of a candidate’s nomination paper (where a person has been subscribed by more than one nomination paper, the candidate may choose a paper from which subscribers can be selected, or if no choice is made, they would be selected from the first paper that was delivered)

Inspection of home address forms - Party list and individual candidates

You should keep the home address forms secure. During office hours from 24 hours from the close of nominations until the day before the poll only certain people are entitled to inspect home address forms. These people are:

• any person also standing nominated as an individual candidate or list candidate in the same electoral area 
• the election agent of any other person standing nominated as a list or individual candidate in the same electoral area 
• an individual candidate acting as their own election agent or a list candidate acting as the election agent for candidates included in that list, a person nominated by them
• the nominating officer of a registered party standing also nominated in the same electoral area (or a person authorised in writing by that nominating officer)

Home address forms should be inspected under supervision. Taking extracts of the home address forms, or copies of them, is not permitted.1

Once the inspection period has passed, the home address forms are not open to inspection. 

Home address forms must be kept securely stored for a period of 35 working days after the result has been declared. They must be securely destroyed on the next working day after the 35-day period. However, if an election petition relating to the election is presented within the 35 working days, the home address forms must be kept securely until the conclusion of the petition proceedings (including any appeal from such proceedings). They must then be securely destroyed as soon as is practicable following the conclusion of the proceedings or appeal.

All candidates, including those on a party list, must also formally consent to their nomination and deliver their consent by the deadline for delivery of nomination papers.1 It must be submitted by hand and cannot be submitted by post, fax, email or other electronic means. The consent to nomination form is prescribed in the election rules and the candidate must use this form or a form to like effect.2  

The candidate’s consent must include:3

• the candidate’s date of birth 
• a statement that they are qualified to stand for election and meet one or more of the qualifications for standing 
• a statement that to the best of the candidate’s knowledge and belief they are not disqualified from being elected

The disqualification orders for candidates have been updated by the Elections Act 2022.4 It is for the candidate to ensure that they are not disqualified from standing. Neither you nor the Commission are able to confirm whether or not a candidate is disqualified.

Candidates are not allowed to sign their consent form earlier than 31 calendar days before the deadline for submitting their nomination papers.5

The consent must also be witnessed by another person. The witness's address must be provided  on the home address form.6  

There are no restrictions on who can be a witness to the consent to nomination.

You should remind any person delivering the nomination papers that it is a criminal offence to provide a false statement on nomination papers.1 If the nomination form includes a commonly used name, you should highlight that the offence also applies if a candidate has given a commonly used name that they do not actually commonly use. You may warn candidates that the penalty for a false statement is an unlimited fine and/or imprisonment of up to a year.2

 
You should not give advice on questions of candidates’ eligibility or disqualification but should direct them to the joint Commission/London Elects guidance for candidates and agents in the first instance. Should they have any further concerns, they should be advised to seek their own legal advice. 
 

The legislation is precise about the use of descriptions. Different rules apply to Mayor of London candidates, individual London-wide Assembly candidates and party nominations. 

In all cases, to be able to use a party’s identifiers (i.e.name, description and emblem) the party must be registered on the Commission’s register of political parties1  and be listed as allowed to field candidates in England.

Political parties can register up to 12 descriptions.

You must check that the party name or description as given on the nomination form is registered on the Commission’s register of political parties and matches it exactly. If it does not, you must reject that nomination. 

Even if a registered party is well known, it is vital to check the register of political parties for the exact details of the party as registered with the Commission.

In case of future challenges, and to maintain a clear audit trail, you should print a copy of the relevant part of the Commission’s register of political parties showing the descriptions and party name at the time of your determination.

Descriptions that may be used by Mayor of London candidates

A mayoral candidate may only use one of the following descriptions:1

• the word 'Independent'
• the registered party name of a registered political party 
• one of the descriptions the party has registered with the Commission

If a mayoral candidate wishes to use a party name or description, this must be authorised by the party’s Nominating Officer (or a person authorised to act on their behalf).2 If the description on the nomination form matches one contained on our registered of political parties or is a registered party name, a certificate of authorisation, signed by or on behalf of the party’s Nominating Officer, must be received by the deadline for the delivery of nomination papers.3

Candidates standing on behalf of more than one registered party may use a joint description which is registered with the Commission. If a candidate is standing on behalf of more than one political party the candidate must submit a certificate of authorisation from each of the parties’ Nominating Officers (or persons authorised to act on their behalf) by the deadline for the delivery of nomination papers.4

Joint descriptions are listed on the Commission’s register of political parties on the registration page for the relevant parties within the descriptions section, and in each case the description will be followed by the words ‘(Joint Description with the xx party)’. An example would be ‘The Square and Circle Party Candidate (Joint Description with the Circle Party)’, which would be listed on the Square Party page. Please note that the words in brackets are for explanatory purposes only and do not form part of the description. 

You can check who the Nominating Officer for a particular party is by referring to the Commission’s register of political parties. However, as long as the person who has issued the certificate claims that they have been authorised to do so by the registered Nominating Officer, the certificate should be taken at face value. 

A Nominating Officer may stand as a candidate. If this happens, the candidate, as Nominating Officer, may authorise their own description. A person authorised by the Nominating Officer to issue a certificate of authorisation may also be a candidate and issue a certificate for their own nomination. 

A certificate of authorisation can allow the candidate to:

• use a specific description or the party name, or 
• choose either the party name or one of the party’s registered descriptions

Descriptions that may be used by party lists at the London-wide Assembly election

A party list nomination form must state the authorised description by which the registered party is to stand for election.1  The authorised description must either be:2

• the registered party name of a registered political party 
• one of the descriptions the party has registered with the Commission

The party list nomination form must also include a statement signed by the person who has issued the nomination form, confirming that it has been issued either by:3

• the party’s Nominating Officer, or
• by a person authorised in writing by the party’s Nominating Officer to act on their behalf

You can check who the Nominating Officer for a particular party is by referring to the Commission’s register of political parties. If the form is signed by a person other than the Nominating Officer, a copy of that authorisation should be supplied to you. However, as long as form confirms that the person who has issued the certificate is the registered Nominating Officer or a person authorised in writing to act on their behalf, it must be taken at face value.

Descriptions that may be used by individual London-wide Assembly candidates 

An individual London-wide Assembly candidate may only use the description ‘Independent’ or leave the description blank.4

Political parties can also register up to 3 emblems.

A Zip file of emblem images will be available on our website. However, while the Zip file is a tool that can be used by your printer to prepare ballot papers, it is the information on the Commission’s register of political parties that should be used for confirming which emblem to print on the ballot papers.

Party candidates at the Mayor of London election and party lists may request to have a registered emblem of the party they represent displayed on the ballot paper. The request must be made in writing and by the deadline for nominations.

If a party has more than one registered emblem, any request for an emblem should specify which one to use. If the emblem is not specified, or the registered party changes or removes the emblem from the register of political parties after the nomination papers have been submitted but before the close of nominations, you should try to contact the mayoral candidate or Nominating Officer for the party list and ask them to select one. You should also tell them that if they do not select a particular emblem before the close of nominations, you will not be able to print an emblem on the ballot paper. 

The candidate or Nominating Officer (or someone authorised to act on their behalf) may provide a high-resolution copy of the emblem for use in the printing of ballot papers, or may request that you download the emblem from the Commission’s website. You must ensure that whatever copy is used is in the same form as the registered emblem. 

The maximum size of an emblem on the ballot paper is set by the directions for printing. When adding a party emblem to a ballot paper, the shape of the emblem should not be altered. For example, do not stretch emblems into square shapes if they are not registered as square images on our website, as this would have the effect of altering their appearance.

Mayor of London candidates

If requested, the candidate of a registered party can choose to have a registered emblem of the party they are representing displayed on the ballot paper. To qualify, a candidate must have been authorised to use a party name or description.1

Candidates standing on behalf of more than one registered party who use a joint description may choose to use a registered emblem of one of the parties that have authorised the use of the description.2  There is no provision for joint emblems to be registered with the Commission.

The candidate, not the election agent or the Nominating Officer must make the request in writing to you.3

Party lists

If requested, the Nominating Officer of a registered party (or someone authorised to act on their behalf) can choose to have a registered emblem of the party displayed on the ballot paper.4  The Nominating Officer (or someone authorised to act on their behalf) must make the request in writing to you.5

Our register of parties contains up-to-date information about political parties, registered descriptions and emblems, and shows which names, descriptions and emblems are currently registered for each party.

Changes up to the publication of the notice of election

Removals or substitution of any registered  descriptions  may take effect up to and including the day before the actual date the notice of election is published for any particular election. 

It is important to note that this is not the last day for publication of the notice of election but the  actual day of  publication.1  

Once the notice of election is published any such changes to any party descriptions do not apply for that election.2  

For example, if you decide to publish your notice of election before the last day that the notice must be published by law, it is possible that a nomination may be submitted which bears a registered party description that no longer appears on the register of parties. 

If the deletion of the description has taken effect after you have published your notice of election but before the last day for publication of notice of election, the deletion does not apply to your election and the 'old' description is still valid. In any such circumstances you can check with the Commission's London regional team and whether or not the submitted party description applies for your election.3  

Changes up to two days before the final day for delivery of nomination papers

You should also note that parties may change their registered party name and emblems, and add any new description if they previously had registered fewer than 12, at any time until two days before the final day for delivery of nominations for that election.4  

New parties must also be registered two days before the final day for delivery of nominations for that election, in order to use names, descriptions and emblems at that poll. 

The table below sets out the deadlines for making changes to the register of political parties in the run up to a poll. After that point, any changes or deletions to any party descriptions do not apply for that election.5  

Party description - not yet registered

Where a Nominating Officer or candidate attempts to submit a nomination paper bearing a description that has yet to be registered, you should advise the candidate not to formally submit the paper, but to take it back and submit it once the description has been successfully registered. 

If a Nominating Officer or candidate formally submits their nomination form with a description that is not yet registered, you must determine the nomination invalid on the basis that, when the determination is made, the description provided does not match any registered with the Commission.9   

You may wish to contact the Commission  for confirmation that a description is not yet registered before making your determination. You can do this by contacting the Commission's London regional team.

In order to be validly nominated as a Mayor of London candidate, a candidate or someone acting on the candidate’s behalf must deposit the sum of £10,000 with you. 

Party lists and individual London-wide Assembly Member candidates must, in order to be validly nominated, deposit the sum of £5,000 with you. 1  

If the deposit is given to you by someone acting on behalf of the mayoral or individual London-wide Assembly Member candidate, the person delivering the deposit must give you their name and address, unless they have already provided this information as part of their notification of appointment as an election agent.2

Payment must be made by the close of nominations and you must accept deposits made using:

• UK banker’s draft3

You can also choose to accept funds by means of:

• a building society cheque
• a debit or credit card
• electronic transfer of funds 
• legal tender (cash in British pounds only), payments made by cash will be subject to money laundering checks

You should accept building society cheques if they carry out business in the United Kingdom. You should also accept banker’s payments which are orders issued by a bank, guaranteeing payment to the recipient. If you decide to accept any of these methods you should list them on the notice of election and make any requirements you have clear in the nomination pack.  

If the deposit is given to you by someone acting on behalf of the candidate, the person delivering the deposit must give you their name and address, unless they have already provided this information as part of their notification of appointment as an election agent.5

Where a candidate at a London Mayoral election or an individual candidate or registered party at a London Assembly election is not shown as standing nominated in the statement of persons nominated, the deposit must be returned as soon as practicable after the publication of the statement of persons nominated to the person who made the deposit or their personal representative. 6  

If there is a fee attached to the form of payment, you can pass this on to the candidate. If so, you should make this clear on the notice of election and the nomination pack. 

This guidance explains the requirements for the delivery of nomination papers. It sets out what you should do to prepare for and undertake informal checking of papers before they are formally delivered and who can deliver nomination papers to you for submission.  

It also explains what papers must be submitted and how they should be completed in order for you to be able to determine them, along with the method of submission and who is entitled to deliver and attend the delivery of nomination papers. 

The purpose of an informal check is to check that a nomination paper appears to be complete in respect of all the legal requirements. When conducting an informal check you should make it clear that the nomination papers are being looked at informally only. 

This process allows you to highlight any errors which would invalidate the paper or which may give reason for a challenge following the election, allowing the opportunity for these to be corrected before being formally submitted. 

As part of your informal checks you may wish to highlight to candidates the updated rules regarding commonly used names and home addresses.

Once informal checks are complete, the papers will either be handed back, or if there are no amendments to be made, they may be formally submitted.  

The person delivering the nomination paper may choose not to wait for an informal check or may choose not to make any changes following advice given at the informal checking stage. If that is the case the paper should be considered as formally submitted and you should accept it at face value. 

All candidates and agents should be given an equal opportunity to access an informal check.

You should consider how you are going to manage this process, for example by putting in place an appointment system.

For both the Mayor of London election and the election of London-wide Assembly Members you can accept nominations on any working day from the date and hours stated on the relevant notice of election. 

For both the Mayor of London election and the election of London-wide Assembly Members the close of nominations is 4pm on the 24th working day before poll. This deadline cannot be moved or extended for any reason.1  

Delivery is determined as being when the nomination papers are delivered, by hand where this is required, at the place specified in the notice of election.2  

For party candidates or in the case of a party list, those wishing to use a description and/or an emblem, you must also receive a certificate of authorisation and an emblem request form as applicable during the time specified for the delivery of nomination papers.

No appointment is required to deliver nomination papers but you could offer and encourage appointments as a way to manage the potential volume of nominations that you will receive during the period for nominations.

It is the responsibility of the candidate or in the case of a party list, the Nominating Officer (or the person authorised to act on their behalf) to ensure that their nomination papers are delivered in the correct manner and by the required deadline. If a completed set of nomination papers and the deposit have not been delivered by that time, the nomination has not been made which means that you cannot rule the nomination valid or invalid.3

Nomination papers must be delivered to the location specified by you on the notice of election.1  The location you choose must be one of the Greater London Authority’s offices.

The address given for the delivery of nomination papers should be exact, and include any room name or number. This will avoid any doubt should nominations be delivered close to the deadline.

You should:

• ensure that only you or your staff take delivery of nomination papers at the specified location
• clearly signpost the location from the building entrance 
• ensure the route, or an appropriately signposted alternative, is fully accessible 
• give details to other staff in the building, such as reception staff, of what to do if a person tries to deliver a nomination paper to them and make it clear that they:
  • should not handle nomination papers
  • should not offer to deliver them
  • should instead direct the person delivering the forms to you

There are no restrictions on who may deliver the nomination papers in respect of the Mayor of London election or individual London-wide Assembly Members candidates.   

However, in relation to the London-wide Assembly party nomination form, it must be delivered to you by the party’s registered Nominating Officer (or someone authorised in writing to act on their behalf).1

There are no restrictions on who can deliver the consents to nomination and the emblem request forms, as well as the certificate of authorisation for mayoral candidates standing on behalf of a party.
 

You should keep the nomination papers secure. By law, you must allow public inspection, and copies to be taken, of the nomination papers and consent to nomination during office hours on any working day from the close of nominations up to and including the day before polling day.1   Any person may inspect and take copies of or extracts from the nomination forms or the consent to nomination forms.

After that point, the nomination papers are not open to public inspection.  

You should securely store them for one year after the election, after which you should destroy them unless ordered not to by a Court.

Objections to nomination forms

There is no right of objection to a nomination at either the election for the Mayor of London or the election of London-wide Assembly Members.
 

Nomination forms, the home address forms and consent to nomination forms must be delivered by hand1 and cannot be submitted by post, fax, email or other electronic means. Where a document is required to be delivered by hand, this can include delivery by a courier.

All emblem request forms and the certificate of authorisation for Mayor of London candidates may be delivered by hand or by post, but cannot be submitted by fax, email or other electronic means. The original version of each completed document must be submitted.2 A certificate of authorisation, for example, which has been sent as an attachment to an e-mail to be printed out would be a ‘copy document’ and not the original document. 

A certificate requires a method of authentication to make it a certificate. This will, in practice in most cases, take the form of a signature to attest the truth of the facts stated. It could, however, also take the form of a seal. 

Whatever method of authentication is used, the document you receive must3 be the original document and not a copy document.

You should take steps to communicate the requirements relating to delivery of nomination papers to all prospective parties, candidates and agents, and ensure that these requirements are highlighted in any briefings or guidance you produce.

Once a nomination paper has been formally delivered, no changes can be subsequently made to it (subject to your power to correct minor errors)4 .At the point of formal submission you should therefore endorse the paper with the date and time of delivery, so that you have a record of when each paper was formally submitted. If a candidate later decides that they want to make changes, for example to the description, they should withdraw their candidature and then submit new nomination papers within the statutory timeframe. 

There is no provision to allow a subscriber to withdraw their signature from a nomination paper for the Mayor of London election once it has been delivered.

Nomination forms, home address forms and consent to nomination forms cannot be delivered by post. 

Only the certificate of authorisation and emblem request can be received by post. 

Any certificates of authorisation and emblem requests received by post should be stored securely until required and collated with corresponding nomination papers delivered by hand as appropriate. 

Any nomination forms, home address forms or consents to nomination received by post have not been ‘delivered’ in accordance with the rules. The candidate is therefore not deemed to stand nominated and no decision can be taken as to whether the papers are valid. 

You should have processes in place to monitor your incoming mail to ensure it does not contain nomination papers that must be delivered by hand. 

You should try to contact the candidate using the details on the nomination form or home address form (Mayoral candidates and individual party list candidates only) and consent to nomination forms (party list candidates), as appropriate, and explain:

• that their nomination form, home address form and consent to nomination cannot be accepted by post
• that they (or someone on their behalf) needs to hand deliver these in accordance with the rules
• that it is their responsibility to ensure that this is done by the deadline
• that they do not need to produce new nomination papers or obtain new subscribers

You should keep any nomination papers you receive by post so they can be collected and then delivered to you by hand. 

You and your staff are not permitted to deliver the forms for the candidate.

The candidate is deemed not to have been nominated if:1

• you receive a nomination form, home address form or consent to nomination by post.
• you have not received all of the required nomination forms by the deadline for delivery of nomination papers 

You cannot determine forms which have not been delivered or take any decision as to whether the papers are valid.
 

Mayor of London election

There is no limit to the number of nomination forms that may be delivered for the same candidate. 

If a candidate is validly nominated by more than one form:

• the candidate should choose which one of the valid nomination forms  (the 'selected' nomination form )
• details on this selected form should be added to the statement of persons nominated and the ballot paper

If the candidate cannot or does not do this, then you should choose which one of the forms will be used.

If more than one nomination form is delivered and one of the nomination forms is invalid:

• that paper is excluded from the forms that can be chosen by the candidate or yourself. 
• as long as at least one nomination form is valid, the candidate can be validly nominated

When an elector subscribes any delivered nomination form, even if it is not the selected nomination form, they are prevented from signing another nomination form1 and any later delivered nomination bearing their signature as a subscriber is invalid.2

Election of London-wide Assembly Members 

There is no limit to the number of nomination forms that may be delivered for the same individual London-wide Assembly Member candidate or the same registered party but the last delivered form will supersede the earlier one(s).3

Candidates and parties who deliver the completed nomination papers and the deposit by the required deadline will be deemed nominated unless and until you decide that the nomination form is invalid (or, in the case of a candidate at the Mayor of London election or an individual London-wide Assembly Member candidate, they withdraw or die). 

You must determine the validity of a nomination form as soon as is practicable after formal delivery.1 The sooner you carry out the formal determination, the greater the chance of those candidates who have made a mistake and whose nomination has been rejected being able to submit new papers before the close of nominations. 

For more information see our guidance on Determining a nomination to be invalid.

Accepting nominations at face value

You must not:

• undertake any investigation or research into any candidate. Your duty does not go beyond seeing that a nomination form and home address form is correct on face value.2

You should not:

• investigate whether a name given on a nomination form is genuine

You should:

• disregard any personal knowledge you may already have of the candidate 
• determine nominations on the basis of the form itself

It is suggested that the same principles should apply to party nominations and the accompanying party list.

The grounds to determine a nomination paper invalid at the GLA elections are provided for in legislation. 

See our guidance for further information on determining a nomination paper invalid at the Mayor of London election or the London-wide Assembly Member election. 

Sham nominations

In very limited circumstances, there is an exception, based on case law, to the principle of accepting nomination papers at face value. You may come across a situation where the candidate's nomination is clearly a sham - for example, if a candidate has given an obviously fictitious name or address such as 'Mickey Mouse of Disney Land'. In such a case the nomination paper must be held to be invalid on the grounds that the candidate’s particulars are not as required by law. 

In addition, the case law also provides that candidates who give particulars that are obscene, racist or an incitement to crime deliver particulars that are “not as required by law”. This is because they contravene the law and/or will inevitably involve the GLRO in a breach of the law. 

When considering the name, the primary consideration should be whether the “name” that has been provided on the nomination form appears to be “obviously fictitious” on the face of the paper. 

If the “name” does not appear to be a genuine name and instead appears to be a statement or slogan, for example, you may consider that it is “obviously fictitious”. 

Any conclusion would be supported by considering the wider context. For example, does the name appear to be a political slogan made in response to topical political events, rather than the genuine name of a real person? 

A court would likely in those circumstances conclude that such names are “obviously fictitious” and that the nomination form should be rejected.

By law, the only grounds that you have for determining that a mayoral nomination form is invalid are:1

• that the particulars of the candidate or the persons subscribing the nomination form are not as required by law, or
• that the form is not subscribed as required
• that the description used is not authorised by a certificate signed by or on behalf of the party’s Nominating Officer, or the description is not registered with the Commission2
• that the person is subject to a disqualification order under section 30 of the Elections Act 20223

If in your opinion a nomination does not comply with the description rules, you must give decision to that effect as soon as soon as practicable after the delivery of the nomination form and, in any event, no later than 24 hours after the deadline for delivery of nomination papers.

The home address from must be completed in full and must contain a signature if the candidate completes the statement requiring their home address not to be made public. You must determine that the home address form is invalid if it does not comply with legal requirements.

If you have not received the required deposit or any of the required nomination papers by the deadline for the submission of nomination papers, the candidate has not been validly nominated.4 There is then no need to make a formal determination, and their name should not appear on the relevant statement of persons nominated.

Returning deposits to candidates who have withdrawn or died

Where a candidate is not shown as standing nominated in the statement of persons nominated or if proof of the candidate’s death has been given to you before the calculation of the votes, the deposit must be returned as soon as practicable after the publication of the statement of persons nominated or after the candidates death (as appropriate), to the person who made the deposit or their personal representative.5

Party lists at the London-wide Assembly Member election

By law, the only grounds that you have for determining that a party list nomination form is invalid are:1

• that the authorised description by which the party is to stand for election is not the registered name of the party or one of the descriptions registered with the Commission 
• that the form does not contain the statement that it is issued either by the party’s registered Nominating Officer or someone authorised in writing to act on their behalf
• that there are more than 25 candidates on the party list

Where in your opinion the nomination form is invalid on either of the first two grounds above, you must give a decision to that effect as soon as practicable after the delivery of the nomination form and in any event, no later than 24 hours after the deadline for delivery of nomination papers.2  

You must delete the name and address of a candidate from a party list where:3

• proof is given to your satisfaction of the candidate’s death
• the candidate withdraws
• the candidate’s particulars in the party list are not as required by law
• the candidate’s consent to nomination has not been delivered in accordance with the rules

The home address form must be completed in full and must contain a signature if the candidate completes the statement requiring their home address not to be made public. You must determine that the home address form is invalid if it does not comply with legal requirements. 

Individual London-wide Assembly Member candidates

By law, the only grounds that you have for determining that a nomination form for an individual candidate at the London-wide Assembly Member election is invalid are:4

• that the particulars of the candidate are not as required by law
• that the person is subject to a disqualification order under section 30 of the Elections Act 2022

If you have not received the required deposit or any of the required nomination papers by the deadline for the submission of nomination papers, the candidate or party list has not been validly nominated.5 There is then no need to make a formal determination, and their name should not appear on the relevant statement of persons (and parties) nominated.

Returning deposits to parties who have withdrawn and individual candidates who have withdrawn or died

Where an individual London-wide Assembly candidate or registered party  is not shown as standing nominated in the statement of persons and parties nominated or if you have received proof before the allocation of seats, of the death of an individual candidate, the deposit must be returned as soon as practicable after the publication of the statement of persons and parties nominated or after the individual candidates death (as appropriate), to the person who made the deposit or their personal representative.6

You must as soon as practicable after making a decision that a nomination form is valid or invalid send a notice of that decision to the candidate at their home address as given on the nomination form and, in the case of a party list candidate, also to the party’s Nominating Officer.1

Once you have made a decision that a nomination form is valid, that decision cannot be challenged during the election, although it may be challenged after the election by way of an election petition.

If a nomination form is determined to be invalid, or you determine that the name and address of a party list candidate must be deleted from the party list, you must:2

• state that fact on the nomination form 
• write on it the reasons for rejection or removal
• sign the form

It is possible for a validly nominated candidate for Mayor of London, or an individual or party list candidate at the London-wide Assembly Member election, to withdraw their candidature. 

A notice of withdrawal must be:

• signed by the candidate
• attested by one witness
• delivered by hand to the place for the delivery of nomination papers
• delivered by 4pm on the 24th working day before the poll1

There are no restrictions on who can deliver the notice of withdrawal.2  

If the candidate is not in the UK, a withdrawal will be effective if it is: 

• signed by the election agent
• accompanied by a written declaration that the candidate is abroad (also signed by the election agent) 
• delivered to you by 4pm on the 24th working day before the poll (i.e. by the deadline for withdrawals). 

If the candidate is nominated by more than one nomination paper, the withdrawal signed by the election agent is only valid if it is accompanied by an additional written statement signed by the candidate, authorising the election agent to withdraw while the candidate is absent from the UK.3   

Withdrawal of an entire party list

A validly nominated party may withdraw that party’s nomination. For this to be effective, the Nominating Officer (or someone authorised in writing to act of their behalf) must deliver to you a signed notice by the close of withdrawals 4pm on the 24th working day before the poll. The notice must be delivered by hand to the place for the delivery of nomination papers. There are no restrictions on who can deliver the notice of withdrawal.4   

The details of any candidates who by the close of withdrawals remain nominated must be printed on the ballot papers. If a candidate has not withdrawn by the deadline, their details must go forward to the ballot paper.5

Subject to your power to correct minor errors no changes can be made to a nomination paper once it has been formally delivered. 

Correction of minor errors

The information in this section explains how to deal with minor errors and you must have regard to this.1   

You can, by law, correct minor errors made on nomination or home address forms at any time before you publish the statement of persons (and parties) nominated.2   

You should attempt to contact the candidate or agent, or the party's Nominating Officer in the case of a party list, before making any minor error amendment.

This table sets out some of the minor errors which can be corrected and guidance about exercising your power to correct minor errors. You should contact us for advice when considering correcting minor errors. 
 

After the close of nominations you must publish a statement of persons nominated1 and a notice of poll.2   

Standing in more than one contest at the GLA elections

If a candidate stands for election as the London Mayor and as a candidate in a London Assembly Member constituency election and is successful in both, they will be returned as the Mayor of London but not as a Constituency Assembly Member. If a candidate is returned either as the London Mayor or as an Assembly Constituency Member, they will not also be returned as a London-wide Assembly Member.3   

Uncontested elections

Election of the Mayor of London

The election is uncontested if either:

• only one valid nomination is received
• all valid nominations are properly withdrawn by the deadline except one, the election is uncontested. 

If the election is uncontested, you must, as soon as practicable, declare the remaining validly nominated candidate elected.4

You must give public notice of the name and description (if any) of the elected candidate.5

Election of London-wide Assembly Members

The election is uncontested if either:

• the number of candidates standing for election (whether on a party’s list or individual London-wide Assembly candidates) is the same or less than the number of London-wide Assembly seats, or 
• all of the candidates shown on the statement of persons and parties nominated are on the party list of the same registered political party

In these circumstances, once you have received the notification regarding the declaration of result for Constituency Members, you must allocate the London-wide Assembly seats in accordance with the rules.6
 

You should have robust proof checking processes in place to ensure that there are no errors on the statement of persons nominated or the statement of persons and parties nominated.

Mayor of London Election

You are required to publish a statement of persons nominated for the Mayor of London election by no later than 4pm on the 22nd working day before the poll.1

You should provide copies of the statement for each CRO to display in their constituency.

The statement of persons nominated must include for all candidates who are validly nominated:

• name
• address (or, if they have requested not to have their home address made public, the name of the relevant area they have given on the home address form)
• description (if any)

It must also include those who no longer stand nominated and the reason why (i.e. those who have withdrawn or whose nomination you have rejected).2

Your privacy notice should make clear that you are required under electoral legislation to publish a candidate’s name and address information in the statement of persons nominated.

Ordering of names on the statement of persons nominated

The names of the candidates on the statement must be listed in alphabetical order of their surname, this is also how they will appear on the ballot paper.

If there are two or more candidates with the same surname, the alphabetical order of the other names will decide which candidate is listed first.3

Where a candidate has requested the use of a commonly used name on their nomination form, the commonly used name must be shown on the statement instead of the actual name.4  

Where a candidate has requested the use of a commonly used surname, the candidate’s alphabetical position on the statement of persons nominated (and on the ballot paper) must be made by reference to their commonly used surname.5

If, however, you have rejected the use of any commonly used name as you think it is likely to mislead or confuse electors, or is obscene or offensive, the actual name must be published on the statement of persons nominated instead of the commonly used name.6  

You must give notice in writing to the candidate of your reasons for refusing the use of a commonly used name.7

Election of London-wide Assembly Members

You are required to publish a statement of persons and parties nominated for the London-wide Assembly Member election by no later than 4pm on the 22nd working day before the poll.8

You should provide copies of the statement for each CRO to display in their constituency.

The statement of persons and parties nominated must include:9  

• each registered party which has been and stands nominated, together with that party’s list
• the individual London-wide Assembly Member candidates who have been and stand nominated
• any other parties or persons (including party list candidates at the election of London-wide Assembly Members) who have been nominated together with the reason why they no longer stand nominated

Ordering of names on the statement of persons nominated

The statement of persons nominated must show, in the following order:10  

• the registered parties who stand nominated must be listed in alphabetical order according to the authorised descriptions given in the nomination papers
• the names and home addresses of the party list candidates arranged in the order in which their names appear in the party list 
• the names, addresses and descriptions (if any)of the individual London-wide Assembly candidates listed in alphabetical order of their surname

Where there are two or more individual London-wide Assembly candidates with the same surname, the alphabetical order of the other names will decide which candidate is listed first.11

Where a candidate has requested the use of a commonly used name on the nomination form or party list, the commonly used name must be shown on the statement instead of the actual name.12

Where an individual London-wide Assembly Member candidate has requested the use of a commonly used surname, the candidate’s alphabetical position on the statement of persons and parties nominated (and on the ballot paper) must be made by reference to their commonly used surname.13

If, however, you have rejected the use of any commonly used name as you think it is likely to mislead or confuse electors, or is obscene or offensive, the actual name must be published on the statement of persons and parties nominated instead of the commonly used name.14   

You must give notice in writing to the candidate of your reasons for refusing the use of a commonly used name.15  

Mayor of London Election

If the election is contested you must publish a notice of poll by no later than by the 6th working day before poll.1   

The notice of poll must include:2

• the heading ‘GREATER LONDON AUTHORITY ELECTION’
• the date and hours of the poll
• the particulars of the candidates remaining validly nominated
• the order of the names must be the same as in the statement of persons nominated.

Legislation requires the particulars of the candidates on the notice of poll to be the same as on the statement of persons nominated. You must ensure that where a candidate has chosen to have their home address withheld from the ballot paper and statement of persons nominated, the home address must not be included on the notice of poll either.3

Your privacy notice should make clear that you are required under electoral legislation to publish a candidate’s name and address in the notice of poll. You can find more information in our guidance on data protection.

You should provide a copy to all candidates and agents as soon as practicable after its publication.

Election of London-wide Assembly Members

If the election is contested you must publish a notice of poll by no later than by the 6th working day before poll.4   

The notice of poll must include:5

• the heading ‘GREATER LONDON AUTHORITY ELECTION’
• the date and hours of the poll
• the number seats for London-wide Assembly Members available for allocation
• the authorised description of each registered party whose party list includes candidates who stand validly nominated
• the name and description (if any) of each individual candidate at the London-wide Assembly Member election remaining validly nominated

The order in which the above information must appear on the notice of poll is the same order as the information is set out in the statement of persons and parties nominated.6

It is not a legal requirement for the notice of poll to be published locally by CROs. However, you should still take steps to ensure that a copy is published in each constituency, including by ensuring that CROs either provide a link from their website to the notice you have published, or provide a copy directly on their website so that electors in all constituencies can easily access it. 

You should also provide a copy to all parties, candidates and agents as soon as practicable after its publication.

For both the Mayor of London election and the election of London-wide Assembly Members, CROs must publish a notice of the situation of polling stations (not later than the last time for publication of the notice of poll (by the 6th working day before poll).1

The notice of situation of polling stations must state the situation of each polling station in the constituency and the description of voters entitled to vote there.2    

They must give a copy of this notice to all election agents as soon as practicable after giving the notice3 and should also give a copy of the notice to all candidates and also provide a copy to you.

As part of your consideration about how best to provide information to parties, candidates and agents in a coordinated and consistent manner, you should liaise with the CROs to decide how best they can discharge their duty to provide copies of the notice of situation of polling stations, enabling, candidates and agents to easily access this information for the whole of Greater London. 

As part of your discussions, you should consider whether the notices will be collated and disseminated centrally by you.

The impact that the death of a candidate will have on the election depends on whether the deceased candidate was standing as an independent or was standing on behalf of a registered political party.

This guidance covers the different rules for the death of a candidate at the Mayor of London election or London-wide Assembly Member election.

For the purposes of the management of the election, it is the time at which you receive proof of the candidate’s death that is the relevant factor, not the actual time of death.

Proof of death is not defined. You should be satisfied with any information that you have received to indicate that the death has occurred.

The impact of the death of a candidate depends on whether or not the candidate was standing on behalf of a registered political party or not.

Independent mayoral candidate 

If an independent mayoral candidate (i.e. a candidate using the description ‘Independent’ or without a description) dies before the declaration of the result, the election continues as normal – unless there are only two persons who are standing as candidates and the death would make the election uncontested. In that case, the poll will be cancelled.

If the deceased independent candidate wins then the GLRO must in these circumstances:1

• declare that the majority or greatest number of votes has been given to the deceased candidate
• declare that no person is returned
• give public notice of the total number of votes given for each candidate together with the number of rejected ballot papers under each head shown in the statement of rejected ballot papers

A new election must be commenced within the period of 35 working days starting from polling day.2

All of the existing candidates will remain nominated for the new election, and forfeiture or return of the deposit is determined by the re-run election result. No new nominations are allowed for the re-run election although candidates may withdraw. The statement of persons nominated must be published as soon as possible after the deadline for withdrawals.

If however proof of the death is given before the result is declared, and only two persons are shown on the statement of persons nominated, the notice of poll must be countermanded if the poll has not begun or the poll must be abandoned if it has begun. The election must be treated as an uncontested election and the remaining candidate is elected.3

In all circumstances, the deposit of the deceased candidate must be returned.4 We have provided further guidance on the  return of deposits.

Mayor of London candidate standing for a party

If you receive proof and are satisfied that a candidate standing in the election for the Mayor of London is standing on behalf of a registered political party or parties, has died before the declaration of the result, the election must be stopped. 

If the poll has not yet commenced, the notice of poll should be countermanded. If the poll is underway or the counting is being undertaken, the poll is abandoned. The election will need to be re-run.5

Where a new election is required after the countermanding or abandonment of a poll due to a candidate’s death, you must select a new day for the poll, and this must fall within 35 working days of the day fixed for the first poll.6

New nominations can be made, but candidates already validly nominated at the original poll do not have to be nominated a second time. Candidates validly nominated prior to the countermanding or abandonment of the poll may not withdraw as their period for withdrawals has expired. 

New mayoral election

In the event that a new election is required where the poll has been countermanded or abandoned due to a candidate’s death, the London regional team will be available to support you in identifying and taking the appropriate actions.

If before the result of the election is declared you receive proof to your satisfaction that an individual London-wide Assembly Member candidate or a candidate named on a party list has died you must:1

• inform each CRO of the death of the candidate
• in the case of a person on a party list, remove that person’s name from the party list

There is no provision for the poll to be cancelled. However, you should take reasonable steps to publicise the name of the candidate, the fact of their death, whether they were an individual London-wide Assembly Member candidate or a party list candidate and, if they were standing on behalf of a registered party, the name of the party. 

You should publicise the death by placing notices outside and inside the polling stations.

The CRO must inform you of the countermand or abandonment of the Constituency Member election and the name of the candidate who has died before the declaration of the result.1

Further information can be found in our guidance for Constituency Returning Officers.
 

At a Mayor of London election, you are required by law to produce a booklet that includes election addresses from candidates at the election and are responsible for the delivery of it to each person entitled to vote at the mayoral election.1   

As part of your planning, you will need to consider how you are going to manage this process in practice. 

You should encourage candidates and agents to formally submit the address to you as early as possible in order to allow time for it to be returned to the agent if amendments or corrections are required and for it to be resubmitted by the deadline for submissions. You should acknowledge receipt of a candidate’s address to provide a clear audit trail.

You must only include an election address in the booklet if it is a statement prepared on behalf of a candidate by their election agent that complies with certain legal requirements.2  
 

The election address must:1

• be delivered to you by the last time allowed to submit nomination papers for the election, i.e. by 4pm on the 24th working day before the poll
• only contain matter relating to the election
• contain a statement to the effect that the address has been prepared by the candidate’s election agent
• give the name and address of the election agent
• be printed on no more than two sides of A5 paper 
• if the address exceeds one side of A5, be accompanied by a second version of the address that must not exceed one side of A5 paper – to be used if the number of candidates requesting to have their election address included in the booklet exceeds2   
• comply with any typographical layout, margin and colour use requirements that you determine
  comply with any other requirements that you determine to facilitate the reproduction of the address as a page or pages of the election booklet 
• if the address is to contain a photograph of the candidate, be accompanied by two identical copies of that photograph, of which one must be signed on the back by the candidate
• be accompanied by such copies of anything contained in the address as you may reasonably require in order to facilitate the reproduction of the address

The election address must not:3

• contain any advertising material other than material promoting the candidate as a candidate at the Mayoral election
• contain any other material appearing to you to be included with a view to commercial gain
• contain any material referring to any other mayoral candidate or to a candidate for election to the Assembly
• contain any material appearing to you to be indecent, obscene or offensive
• contain any material appearing to you to be such that its publication would be likely to amount to the commission of an offence

An election address may (as long as it meets the above requirements including your requirements as to layout and reproduction):4

• be formatted as the candidate wishes, including using any combination of words, pictures and artwork
• include a picture of the candidate
• if they are a party candidate, contain a representation of the registered emblem or one of the registered emblems of the registered political party, where the candidate’s nomination was accompanied by the nomination deadline by a valid certificate of authorisation
• if they are a party candidate, include a registered description or joint description, where the candidate’s nomination was accompanied by the nomination deadline by a valid certificate of authorisation or certificates of authorisation for joint candidates

You must consider whether all of the above requirements have been complied with. If any requirement has not been complied with you must not include that election address in the booklet.5

You must produce a booklet with the election addresses of all candidates who have submitted a valid election address to you by the close of nominations (i.e. by 4pm on the twenty-fourth working day before the poll).1  

The order of the addresses in the booklet must, by law, be decided by you by drawing lots.2

Lots must be drawn as soon as reasonably practicable after the last time for the delivery of nomination papers.

Each candidate submitting an address for inclusion in the election booklet must pay you £10,000 as a contribution towards the expense of printing the booklet.3 You must refuse to include any candidate’s election address where the payment has not been made in the time and manner that you require.4  

Your statement

You must include in the booklet, along with the candidate’s election addresses, your own statement.5   

Your statement must include:

• The date of the election and an explanation of the nature and purpose of the booklet.
• A list of all Mayor of London candidates, including those who did not submit an election address, in the order that they will appear on the ballot paper, together with their description (if any).
• A list of all the parties at the London-wide Assembly Member election, together with the names of the candidates on each party list in the order that they are to be elected, followed by the names and description (if any) of the individual candidates.
• A list of all the Constituency Assembly Member candidates, listed alphabetically by constituency and with the names of candidates for each constituency in the order they are to appear on the ballot paper, together with their description (if any).

Your statement may include:

• the deadlines for registration and absent voting applications
• any other information that you determine

Election information 

You may also include in the election booklet information for voters that has been agreed with the Commission about:6

• the office of the Mayor and the London Assembly
• the system of voting at each Authority election
• information about how to vote in a manner that will ensure a vote is regarded as validly cast 

and, subject to the restrictions set out in legislation (for example, the information must not contain any advertising), may include any other information which will encourage electoral participation.

This information must be printed on no more than two sides of A5 paper.7

Reviewing the proof

You must notify every election agent of a candidate who has provided a valid election address of the time and place where they may check the election addresses in the booklet and submit typographical corrections to the proof of the booklet before it is printed.8

You may, if any candidate and their agent do not review the proof, make your own correction of typographical errors in an election address if you think it is appropriate. If you decide to make a correction, you should attempt to contact the candidate or agent to clarify your corrections.9

Publication of the booklet

The booklet must include a statement that it is published by you, giving your name and address and that of your printer.10  

You must print the booklet and deliver a copy to each elector on the electoral register who is eligible to vote at the Mayor of London election.11   

In addition to delivering printed copies of the booklet to electors, you should also publish the contents of the booklet on your website and make further copies of the booklet available on request.  You should liaise with CROs to ensure that booklets are available locally, such as in the offices of London boroughs and public libraries. 

By law, you should also make copies of the booklet available at the offices of:12  

• the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC)
• the London Fire Commissioner 
  Transport for London
• Office of London borough councils and the Common Council of the City of London
• Public libraries

You should also, on request, supply the booklet in alternative formats and you may provide it in languages other than English on the London Elects website.

Return of candidate payment for printing cost

You should keep a record of the costs of printing the booklet separately from all other costs so that you can determine the total costs of printing the booklet. If the payments made by the candidates exceed the total cost of printing, the balance must be divided equally between the candidates and returned to them. 

Candidates who withdraw before the deadline for withdrawals must have all of the payment they have made returned to them.13 With the exception of equally returning any overpayment as above, there is no provision to return the payment for any other reason where an election address is not included in the booklet.

This section of the guidance covers the appointment of election agents, the requirement to give public notice of the appointment of election agents and how an appointment can be revoked. 

You will also find guidance on the appointment of agents to attend postal vote openings, polling stations and the verification and count. 

Each Mayor of London candidate or individual London-wide Assembly Member candidate, and each registered party submitting a party list at the London-wide Assembly Member election must have an election agent.1   

The CROs are responsible for receiving notification of the appointment of election agents for the Constituency member elections in their relevant area.

For more information see our guidance on election agents for individual candidates and party lists.

An election agent is the person responsible for the proper management of the candidate’s election campaign and, in particular for its financial management. Every Mayor of London candidate or individual London-wide Assembly Member candidate must have an election agent. 

The notice of the appointment of an election agent must be delivered to you, by the latest time for the delivery of notices of withdrawal, which is by 4pm on the last day for delivery of nomination papers.1

We have produced an elections agents notification form as part of the set of nomination papers for the Greater London Authority elections. 

You should communicate information on the election processes, the code of conduct and standard points of behaviour to the election agent at the earliest opportunity. In particular any information you provide should provide links to and highlight the new postal vote handling and the new undue influence and intimidation rules.

Can a candidate be their own agent?

A candidate may appoint themselves as their election agent.

If no agent is appointed by the deadline for withdrawals, the candidate automatically becomes their own election agent.2  

A candidate is also becomes their own agent if:

• they revoke their agent’s appointment or 
• their agent dies, and a replacement is not appointed on the day of the death or on the following day3

Election agent’s office address

The election agent must have an office to which all claims, notices, legal process and other documents may be sent.4 This must be a physical address – PO boxes or similar mailboxes cannot be used.  

The location of the office election must be in one of the following locations:5

• within the parliamentary constituency where the candidate is standing
• within a constituency which adjoins the constituency where the candidate is standing 
• within London, within a London borough which is part of, or adjoins the constituency where the candidate is standing 

The election agent’s office address is often the same as their home address. Alternatively, it might be  the local political party office or an office especially set up for the election. 

If the candidate gives you written notification of their appointment as their own election agent, they must give an office address within the qualifying area.6

Where a candidate acts as their own election agent as a result of not having appointed anybody else, the office address is deemed to be the address given on the statement of persons nominated i.e. the one provided on the home address form.7   

This is the case even where a candidate has chosen to withhold their home address from the statement of persons nominated and ballot paper. You should make this clear to candidates.

Mayor of London candidates

If the candidate’s address is outside the qualifying area as defined in the bullet points above, the office address is deemed to be the address of the subscriber whose name appears first in the statement of persons nominated.

Individual London-wide candidates

If the candidate’s address is outside the qualifying area, you should contact the candidate and request that they provide an alternative address within the area.

An election agent is the person responsible for the proper management of the election campaign and, in particular its financial management.

Each registered party submitting a party list at the London-wide Assembly Member election must have an election agent.

The notice of the appointment of election agent must be delivered to you, by the latest time for the delivery of notices of withdrawal, which is by 4pm on the last day for delivery of nomination papers.1

We have produced form for the notification of elections agents as part of the set of nomination papers for the Greater London Authority elections. 

You should communicate information on the election processes, the code of conduct and standard points of behaviour to the election agent at the earliest opportunity. In particular any information you provide should provide links to and highlight the new postal vote handling and the new undue influence and intimidation rules.

Can a candidate be their own agent?

A candidate on a party list can be appointed as election agent for that party list.

If an agent is not appointed by the deadline for withdrawals, the candidate who is first on the party’s list automatically becomes the election agent for that party.2  

The candidate who is first of the party list also becomes the election agent for that party if: 

• the agent’s appointment is revoked, or
• the agent dies, and a replacement is not appointed on the day of the death or on the following day3  

Election agent’s office address

The election agent must have an office to which all claims, notices, legal process and other documents may be sent.4 The office address must be a physical address – PO boxes or similar mailboxes cannot be used.  

The location of the office for the London-wide Assembly Member election must be in one of the following locations:5

• within the parliamentary constituency where the candidate is standing
• within a constituency which adjoins the constituency where the candidate is standing 
• within London, within a London borough which is part of, or adjoins the, the constituency where the candidate is standing 

The election agent’s office address is often be the same as their home address. Alternatively it might be the local political party office or an office especially set up for the election. 

Where the first-named candidate on a party list becomes the election agent as a result of no-one else having been appointed, the office address is deemed to be the address given on the statement of persons and parties nominated6 i.e. the one provided on the home address form. 

This is the case even where a candidate has chosen to withhold their home address from the statement of persons nominated and ballot paper. You should make this clear to the candidates.

If the address is outside the qualifying area, you should contact the candidate and request that they provide an alternative address within the area. 

Legislation provides that an election agent’s appointment can be revoked.

You can find information on the process of revoking the appointment below. This covers  individual candidates standing in both the London-wide assembly member and the Mayor of London elections, and the process for a party list in the London-wide assembly member election. 

Individual candidates

Once an election agent has been appointed they cannot resign from their role. Only the candidate may revoke the appointment. In this case the candidate would need to appoint a new election agent or would become their own agent.1

If a candidate is acting as their own election agent, irrespective of whether they became an agent as a result of not appointing one or because they had given you written notice of their own appointment, they can also revoke their own appointment and appoint a new agent.2   

Wherever a candidate revokes the appointment of an election agent they must notify you in writing.3  You must then publish a revised version of the notice of election agents.  A candidate may revoke the appointment of an election agent at any time during the election period.

Party lists

Once an election agent has been appointed they cannot resign from their role. The appointment may only be revoked by or on behalf of the party and in respect of all candidates.4 In this case a new election agent would need to be appointed or the highest listed candidate would become the agent.5

Wherever an appointment of an election agent is revoked they must notify you in writing.6 You must then publish a revised version of the notice of election agents. The appointment of an election agent may be revoked at any time during the election period.

Where possible, if an election agent is revoked but has already been involved in authorising expenditure or campaign materials, the candidate should obtain a declaration from their previous agent regarding any expenses which occurred during their time as agent, to support the candidate’s submission of their final expenses return.

Upon notification of an election agent’s name and address you must publish a notice setting out those details and the name of the candidate as soon as possible. 

You should also include the full name of the candidate or party and you could add any commonly used name in brackets, for completeness.1

However, there is no legal requirement to use both their full name and commonly used name, and you can decide on the approach to take. Whichever approach is followed, you should ensure that you apply it consistently for all candidates on the notice.

The notice must be updated if any agent’s appointment is revoked, or the agent dies, and the new agent’s details published on the revised version. You must provide a copy of the notice to all CROs for them to publish locally.

Your privacy notice should make clear that you are required under electoral legislation to publish an election agent’s name and address information in the notice of election agents. 

You will also need to consider whether it is appropriate or necessary for the notice to remain published, on your website or elsewhere, beyond the expiry of the petition period for that election. The notice serves a specific purpose, i.e. advising who will be a candidate’s election agent, so once the election is over, and the opportunity to question that election has passed, they serve no further purpose. Therefore, you should either remove the notice, or remove the personal data contained in the notice, once the petition deadline for the election has passed You can find more information in our guidance on Data Protection. 

Election agents may appoint sub-agents to act on their behalf.1  

Election agents may appoint sub-agents for particular parts of the Greater London area, as long as those parts do not overlap. The agent can determine the parts into which they wish to sub-divide the area and these may cross electoral and administrative boundaries.

The office address of the sub-agent must be in the area within which they are appointed to act.

A sub-agent can do anything that the election agent is entitled to do within the area to which they are appointed. They may attend the opening of postal votes, the verification and count, as well as the central calculation of the result, provided that these are taking place within the area in which they have been appointed to act and they are acting in place of the election agent. 

The election agent must declare to you in writing the name, address and office address of each sub-agent they have appointed and the area in which they may act by the 2nd working day before the day of the poll.2 You should include forms for the notification of appointment of sub-agents in your nomination packs. 

The election agent can revoke the appointment of a sub-agent at any time.3 If a sub-agent dies or has their appointment revoked the election agent may appoint a new-sub agent by declaring in writing the name, address, office address and area of appointment of the new sub-agent to you. 

Once the name, address, office address and area of appointment of a sub-agent have been declared to you, you must give public notice of these details.4 You should forward this notice to all CROs for local publication. 

Other agents can be appointed to observe the opening of postal votes, the poll and the count. You must give notice of these appointment to the relevant CRO.1  

You should liaise with CROs to determine how best to ensure that this process is as straightforward for parties, candidates and agents as possible, and ensure that the arrangements are clearly communicated to parties and candidates and their agents.

You can find more information on the appointment of postal voting, polling and counting agents in our guidance for CROs. 

This section is intended to help you make decisions about some of the key aspects of delivering the verification and the counting of the votes, such as managing the collation of the result, as well as developing plans for managing attendance and observation. 

It provides guidance to support the key decisions you need to make, and highlights recommended approaches to assist you in understanding and discharging your duties to ensure that there is transparency in the process and enabling you to deliver an accurate result in which voters, candidates and political parties have confidence.

You should work closely with the CROs and inform them early on, of any directions you intend to issue, and decisions about how the verification and counting and results collation is to be organised and managed across the Greater London area.

You should plan and complete your consultation, dialogue and decision-making in good time, before the formal election campaign period begins. This is to enable CROs to reflect your decisions in their planning for the verification and count. communicated to. You should also engage with any other stakeholders that have an interest, before such as candidates and agents, political parties, voters and the media.

While you should seek input from those affected or interested to inform your decision-making, ultimately the responsibility for making decisions remains with you as GLRO.

One of the aspects of the election process, for both the Mayor of London election and the London-wide Assembly election, where you will particularly want to ensure that there is consistency is the verification and counting of votes and collation of the result. You will therefore need to consider when, where and how the votes are verified and counted by the CROs.

However, the verification and count are organised, you should ensure that the CROs plans will deliver a consistent standard of administration. 

In developing your plans, you should have regards to the Commission’s principles for a well-run verification and count and consider other practical factors that may affect the organising and timing of the verification and the count. You can find more information about the count in our guidance for CROs on verifying and counting the votes.    

You should record all your decisions about when, where and how to verify and count, and communicate these to those who may be affected, bearing in mind that here may be different arrangements in place in different parts of the Greater London area.

If different arrangements will be in place in different parts of the Greater London area, you should ensure that you communicate clearly to candidates and agents, and others who may be attending or observing verification or count processes, which aspects of those processes may differ, and why. 

You should put in place a robust protocol for the two-way communication of verification and count information between you and CROs, including verification figures and the communication of the required local count totals.

You should ensure that your verification and count arrangements can deliver the following key principles for an effective verification and count:

• all processes are transparent, with a clear and unambiguous audit trail. For example:
  • everything is carried out in clear view of all those entitled to attend
  • sufficient information is provided to attendees on the processes to be followed
  • communication of information is consistent and open
  • the secrecy of the vote is maintained at all times
  • the security of ballot papers and other stationery is maintained at all times
• the verification produces an accurate result. This means that the number of ballot papers in each box either matches the number of ballot papers issued as stated on the ballot paper account or, if it does not:
  • the source of the variance has been identified and can be explained, and/or
  • the box has been recounted at least twice, until the same number of ballot papers is counted on two consecutive occasions. 
• The count produces an accurate result, where:
  • the total number of votes cast for each candidate (or party), together with the rejected votes matches the total number of ballot papers given on each verification statement
  • the verification, count and result collation are timely

The London-wide Assembly member election result will also rely on accurate figures from both the Constituency Assembly election count and the London-wide Assembly election count. 

In developing a result collation process, you will need to consider each key stage that contributes to the overall result, including verifying the ballot papers and counting the votes in each of the constituencies, collating the local totals from the constituencies and calculating the result, and ensure that these are organised, managed and delivered in such a way as to ensure these key principles can be met.

In addition to considering how to ensure that your processes will enable you to meet the key principles, you should consider other relevant practical factors that will affect organisation and timing of the verification, count and result collation such as:

• the number of constituencies within Greater London and the number of boroughs within each constituency 
• turnout
• the geography of the Greater London area
• size and capacity of venues
• the ability to ensure transparency for candidates, agents and observers at the venues
• the cost of using the venues

As GLRO, you and the project team will need to agree the approach to be taken in respect of the timing of the verification, count and result calculation across the GLA elections. As GLRO you can decide when to start the sorting, verification and count of ballot papers, these processes should commence as soon as practicable after the close of poll. You should also inform CROs how you will approach the co-ordination of the verification and counting of votes.   

Any direction given as to timing should be developed in consultation with the CROs to ensure that it can be met in practice.

The overarching principle that should underpin the decision-making in relation to the timing of election counts, is, the need to ensure an accurate result in which voters, candidates and political parties have confidence.

As GLRO you should consider this principle carefully in deciding when, where and how the votes in each constituency will be verified and counted. You need to ensure that you are confident that both your and the CROs’ processes are managed and resourced in a way that enables counting to produce a timely outcome.

Your decision as to the timing of the verification and count should reflect the following:

• The Constituency Assembly Member election returns one result for each constituency.
• The London-wide Assembly and London Mayoral elections are both single polls taking place across the Greater London area producing one overall result each. Each constituency’s local total counts towards a result for the Greater London area as a whole and therefore it will be important to identify a defined period of time during which all the votes will be counted and totals announced for each constituency.  
• The result of the election must be accurate. Underpinning the approach to the timing of the verification and count is the need to ensure an accurate result in which voters and candidates can have confidence. Therefore the period of time specified for the verification and count to take place must be such that CROs can resource and conduct a well-run verification and count process within it.
• The potential for and extent of combined polls, for example any Borough by-elections taking place in the Greater London area. Where polls are combined, whether in some or all constituencies, you will need to take this into account in identifying the options for timing of the verification and counting of the votes for the GLA elections. You should:
  • obtain information from CROs about the other polls taking place and plans for verification and counting at the other polls, and use this information to inform your planning assumptions.
  • make clear when you communicate the plans for when to verify and count the votes what factors related to combination you have taken into account in making them, and any particular implications of your decisions for areas with combined polls.
  • ensure that you provide candidates and agents at the GLA election with information for all constituencies, highlighting where combination exists and has had an impact on the decision, including where this has resulted in different arrangements being in place.
  • keep your plans under review to deal with any last minute by-election being announced. 

The CROs are responsible for the verification of the ballot paper accounts and the counting of the votes for all three elections in their constituency.  

On completion of the verification procedure, CROs must, as per agreed process in the protocol, inform you of the contents of the verification statements i.e. total number of ballot papers counted.

You can find more information about verification and count in our guidance for CROs on managing verification  and managing the count. 

There are two broad options for organising the count processes for the GLA election:

• Individual local counts and the central collation by the GLRO: This option would see the verification and counting of the votes take place in local count venues, with the local totals 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 CRO to the central hub is capable of establishing a clear audit trail, is timely, and supports the development of an accurate result.
• Central GLA 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 Greater London area would then be counted; or a count where votes for all constituencies 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 for the GLA election. For example, across the Greater London area some constituencies could count locally, while others come together and hold counts on a more centralised basis.

You should liaise closely with the CROs in your area when deciding on the 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 CROs to plan how you will manage and mitigate the risks.

We have set out here some of the key factors you will need to consider in deciding how to organise and manage the verification and counting of the votes for the GLA election: 

Consistency of approach

• CROs and their staff will have past experience of running election counts in their constituencies and will have their own processes and workflows that they are used to following. While this knowledge and experience will be useful in helping to decide how best to organise and manage the verification and counting, you should consider how you will ensure consistency in the approach to verification and counting across the whole of Greater London, regardless of where the processes are to be carried out.

Staff resources and availability

• The identification, recruitment and training of sufficient, capable staff to conduct the count will also be a key consideration. For example, depending on transport links and parking it may be more difficult to recruit the necessary numbers of suitable staff to work in a central location than it would be to recruit people to work at a venue closer to their home.

Deployment of staff

• You should also consider how to make the most efficient use of staff. This could mean that, unless counts are completed within a similar time, count staff for some constituencies may have completed the process while others are still counting. If count staff are in one (or several) central locations they can be deployed flexibly to maximise productivity in the interests of a timely outcome to the count. You will need to consider how to ensure that the count arrangements enable all constituencies to complete their counting within a reasonable time of each other.

Venues

• Any venues used will need to be of a sufficient size and capacity to accommodate the necessary processes and staff, and enable processes to be carried out effectively and in clear view of those entitled to attend, taking into account potential media attendance at the declaration of the result. CROs may already have venues (and reserve venues) that they have used in the past and are familiar with, along with the verification and count workflows and layouts that work for these venues.   

Transmission of local totals

• CROs need to transmit their local totals to the GLRO to enable the London-wide Assembly Member and Mayor of London election result to be calculated. You will need to ensure that you provide instructions on the method to be used for transmitting the information accurately and securely, and carry out a test of the process in advance. There are greater risks with this process if counting is carried out locally, for example, as a result of technical issues. You would need to develop contingency arrangements to be deployed in the event of technical problems occurring.

Security and logistics

• You should ensure that ballot papers are stored securely at all times. This will be an important consideration in any proposals that would require ballot boxes to be transported to a central venue, or between venues after being verified. You should consider carefully the potential security risks associated with the transportation of ballot boxes and the associated logistical challenges, including how to ensure that the correct ballot papers for each election are in the right place so that all ballot papers can be included in the appropriate count. 

Your decisions as to when, where and how the votes are to be verified and counted should be taken in accordance with the principles and considerations set out in this chapter. Once you have made your decisions you should consider how best to ensure that CROs plans for managing and resourcing their verification and counting processes will achieve these principles in practice. 

Once you have agreed how the verification and count will be organised and managed, you should ensure that CROs’ plans will deliver a consistent standard of administration of these aspects of the election, so that the election as a whole delivers an accurate result in which everyone can have confidence.

There are a variety of methods for verifying the ballot papers and counting the votes. You can decide to leave it to each CRO to choose their preferred method based on what is most appropriate for their local circumstances and explain it to you. It is for you to decide in conjunction and consultation with the CROs across Greater London which approach to take.

Whatever counting method is used it should be transparent and lead to an accurate outcome. Calculating an accurate result relies on accurate verification and count figures, and you will need to consider specifically how you will ensure that the local totals you receive from CROs to collate the result are accurate before you accept them. You should produce templates of all documents which CROs will be required to complete during the verification and count process to provide a clear audit trail. 

Breaking down the verification and counting of votes into areas smaller than the constituency is one counting method that is particularly effective in achieving an accurate timely result with clear audit trails. 

You should be able to satisfy yourself that CROs’ plans for verifying and counting can meet the principles for an effective verification and count and will deliver a result that is accurate and in which everyone can have confidence.

You should ensure that there is consistent and transparent communication about the results collation process both at City Hall and at the count venues, to parties, candidates and agents, the media and other relevant stakeholders.

As GLRO you must: 

• collate the local verification and the local count totals from each constituency  
• calculate and declare the overall result1

for the election of the Mayor of London and the London-wide Assembly Member election.

It is for you as GLRO to determine how best to manage these processes. Your project plan should include plans to deliver the calculation of results.

You should liaise with CROs in planning and developing the process for collating, checking local totals and authorisation for them to be shared publicly. You should also provide them with guidance on how this will work in practice. You will need to ensure you have processes appropriate to the risk in place to ensure an appropriate level of security of personal data at the verification and count.

You should produce and share in advance with CROs templates of all documents which you will require them to complete, during the collation of local totals (whether electronically or in hard copy) to ensure that all information is recorded and transmitted in a consistent way, and to provide a clear audit trail. Any system used should have a contingency in case of any problems or system failures.

You should consider how best to organise and manage the two-way transfer of information between you and CROs. This includes the checking, recording and collation of information from CROs, and the calculation of the results. You should determine whether you need to put in place IT systems or programs to facilitate this.  

Whatever processes and systems you use for collating the result, you need to ensure they meet with the principles set out in our guidance for principles for effective verification, count and result collation processes.    

You should also make arrangements for testing the process and any supporting systems you intend to use, which should include at least one rehearsal of the process involving your staff and CROs and their staff in order to ensure that everyone involved understands and is familiar with how the process works and what their responsibilities are. This will also enable any issues to be identified and resolved before the event itself. 

You should ensure that all processes are transparent and carried out in clear view of all those entitled to attend, with information provided to attendees on the processes to be followed.

You must give election agents notice in writing of the time and place at which you will begin:

• the central calculation of the Mayoral election results1
• allocation of London-wide Assembly seats2

You must give those entitled to attend reasonable facilities for overseeing the results collation. You should also ensure that anyone else who is entitled to attend has an unrestricted view of the proceedings, while also ensuring that they will not be able to interfere with the work of your staff.  

Access to the result calculation at the Mayor of London election

Only the following people are entitled to attend the central result calculation:3  

• you and your clerks
• CROs and a clerk chosen by each of them
• candidates and one person chosen by each candidate
• election agents (any sub-agent appointed for the area in which the result calculation takes place may attend while the election agent is not present)
• Electoral Commission representatives
• accredited observers
• those persons permitted to be present at the allocation of seats for London Members of the London Assembly

You may only permit other people to attend if you are satisfied that the efficiency of the calculation will not be impeded and you have consulted the election agents or thought it impractical to do so.4

Access to the result allocation at the London-wide Assembly Member election

Only the following people are entitled to attend the allocation:5

• you and your clerks
• CROs and a clerk chosen by each of them
• Individual candidates at the London-wide Assembly Member election and one person chosen by each candidate
• candidates on a party list and one person chosen by each candidate
• election agents (any sub-agent appointed for the area in which the result calculation takes place may attend while the election agent is not present)
• the Nominating Officers of those registered parties standing nominated at the election
• Electoral Commission representatives
• accredited observers
• those persons permitted to be present at the central calculation at the Mayor of London election

You may only permit other people to attend if you are satisfied that the efficiency of the calculation will not be impeded and you have consulted the election agents or thought it impractical to do so.6   

Guidance on developing communication plans to support the delivery of the election can be found in our planning guidance for the GLRO. Good communication, both at party, candidate and agent and media briefings in advance of the result collation and at the event itself, will allow those present to properly scrutinise the proceedings and will help to build confidence that the result is accurate. Providing information on the processes to be followed can also help to lower the number of queries raised by parties, candidates and agents, the media and other attendees.

Our guidance on verifying and counting the votes for CROs covers the information that should be provided at the verification and count, and ways in which that might be done. As the GLRO you also need to consider how to ensure consistency and transparency across all the verification and count venues both in terms of the information that is provided during the verification, count and result collation and when and how that is communicated, taking into account how the verification and counting is organised.

You should ensure that you have prepared appropriate information to explain the processes you are going to follow during the result collation to any candidates, agents, observers and media who are present. As a minimum you should explain your role as GLRO and identify, where appropriate, your deputies and key result collation staff and explain their roles. You should also explain how the result collation process will work, including how this relates to the verification and counting of votes across the Greater London area, and set out the key stages in the process.

You should make announcements at the start of the event and regularly during proceedings to keep attendees informed about what is happening where and when. You should also announce at the start the expected time for the declaration of result.

Attendees at the result collation should be kept informed throughout the process and you will therefore need to consider how and at what stages in the process you will obtain information from CROs to be able to provide timely information and updates to attendees at the result collation. As the counting is not carried out at one central venue you will need to reflect in your communication protocols what information needs to be shared about the progress of the verification and count in each of the constituencies, and ensure that consistent information is communicated to you by CROs regularly throughout the process. You will also need to ensure that you plan for providing them with regular updates on the progress of the processes across the Greater London area, so that they can communicate this information locally.

If agents or observers are dissatisfied in any way with the manner in which the proceedings are being carried out, the opportunity should always be available for them to make direct representations to you at the earliest opportunity so that any concerns may be considered, explanations and reassurances given, and any corrective action taken if necessary.

You should have in place a media plan, together with the CROs, to ensure that your messages and approach to communication with the media at the verification, count and result collation are consistent across the Greater London area. In addition to making practical arrangements for their attendance, your early contact with the media should include an explanation of the processes to be followed and the expected time of the result declaration.

At the result collation venue you should include space and opportunity for the media to report on the result. You have discretion to decide which representatives of the media you allow to attend. As with all attendees, you must ensure that media representatives do not interfere with the process or compromise the secrecy of the vote.

You should consider providing information and/or briefings in advance for representatives of the media attending the result collation and declaration of result for both the Mayor of London election and the London-wide Assembly Member election and ensure that you have made the necessary preparations for their presence. Our guidance for CROs contains further details and sets out the kinds of provision you may need to make for press and media attendance. These should include ensuring that the venue has suitable space and equipment and that there are clear processes and resources in place for providing information to, and dealing with enquiries from the media at the result collation.1

If media representatives are accredited by the Commission as observers and are attending in such a capacity, they have the same rights and obligations as any other accredited observer. Like any other observers, they are required to have regard to the Commission’s Code of practice for observers and must abide by any decision that you make on the use of cameras and other recording equipment.2

• The CROs must verify the ballot papers received against the completed ballot paper accounts for all three elections within their constituency and draw up statements as to the result of the verification of each poll.1   
• The CROs must, as per agreed process in the protocol, inform the GLRO of the contents of their verification statements.   
• The GLRO must collate all the verification figures for the London-wide Assembly member and Mayor of London elections to produce a total number of the ballot papers going forward to the each separate count for the whole Greater London area.  

The CROs will share the verification statements locally with the election agents.   

The Commission has developed guidance for CROs on the adjudication of doubtful ballot papers.

You should consider how you will work with CROs in your police area to ensure that the ballot papers for the whole GLA elections are adjudicated consistently. This should include consideration of the need for providing briefing or training sessions for CROs and whether you wish to give any additional guidance or directions to them as to how they should adjudicate doubtful ballots.

The categorisation and recording of rejected ballot papers by grounds for rejection is an important part of the audit trail for the count, supporting confidence in the result. You should consider how to ensure that CROs are clear as to how rejections should be categorised and how this information can be accurately recorded.

As GLRO you must for collate and approve the count totals for each constituency for both the London-wide Assembly Member and Mayor of London elections.

Following the agreed protocol process each CRO must, as soon as practicable, inform you of the contents of the statement of local totals.1   

Checking and approving local totals

Checking and authorising these totals is a key stage in ensuring that the result is accurate and that there is a clear and unambiguous audit trail. 

You need to have in place a robust checking process to be able to satisfy yourself that the local totals are accurate and that information and figures are recorded and transmitted accurately by CROs, and recorded and collated accurately by you and your staff.

In particular, you should consider how to ensure that the following are recorded and transmitted consistently and accurately:

• the total number of ballot papers going forward to the count, ensuring that this figure includes all ballot papers from polling stations and postal vote openings
• the total number of votes cast for each candidate / party
• the total number of rejected votes and the numbers recorded in each category for rejection
  • the total number of votes counted plus the total number of rejected votes should equal the total number of ballot papers that have gone forward to the count

Before you formally accept any local count totals, you should be confident that the CRO who has provided them, has checked and remedied any variances including checking for any transcription errors. Our guidance for CROs has further information on reconciliation of count totals.

If there is any variance in these figures, you should require the CRO to take whatever steps they think are necessary and appropriate to try to resolve the variance, and to be able to explain any remaining variance to you.

Once you are satisfied with the local totals for the London-wide Assembly member and Mayor of London elections you may authorise the CRO to give public notice of the statements of local totals of number of votes cast and ballot papers rejected.2

As GLRO you must calculate the results for the London-wide Assembly Member and Mayor of London elections.

The calculation process 

You must calculate the following:1  

• the total number of votes cast for each individual candidate or, in the case of the London-wide Assembly member election, registered party
• the total number of rejected votes
• the number of rejected ballot papers categorised by reason for rejection

As soon as you have calculated the result of the count, you must inform the election agents who are present of the totals you have calculated and give them the opportunity to satisfy themselves that your calculations are accurate.2   

Election agents may request that you recalculate the totals. You may refuse such a request if you consider it to be unreasonable. 

Recounts

For the London-wide Assembly member election and the Mayor of London any requests for a recount can only be made before the local totals have been announced. A London wide recount is not permissible.  

Our guidance for CROs contain further information on the recount procedures.

Mayor of London election    

You must declare the name of the candidate who is elected.1   

London-wide assembly Member election

You must declare: 

• the registered parties to which seats for London members have been allocated 
• the names of the party list candidates who are to fill those seats 
• the names of the successful individual London-wide Assembly Member candidates2

Preparing for the declaration

When a candidate has used their commonly used name to stand in an election, you should use both their full name and their commonly used name when declaring the result to provide transparency regarding the candidates standing for election.

However, there is no legal requirement to use both their full name and commonly used name, and you can decide on the approach to take when declaring results. Whichever approach is followed, you should ensure that you apply it consistently for all candidates and undertake any additional checks necessary on verification and count paperwork to ensure that candidates’ names appear in the same order as listed on the ballot paper.

When planning for the declaration you should:

• decide on the exact location in the venue where the result will be declared and who will be on the platform at this time
• ensure the platform is accessible for all those who need to get up on it
• consider if you can make use of display boards to provide a backdrop for the announcement of results
• check any equipment that you will use for the announcement before the proceedings begin
• double-check that the result is accurate, and that it is written in the form of words for oral delivery in order to avoid any errors. You may need to repeat the declaration so that those in attendance are able to hear the detail clearly, particularly where there is noise from those attending
• consider how you will provide media representatives in attendance with a written copy of the results at the time the announcement is made as this will help them to ensure that their transmission of results is accurate

Errors when delivering the declaration

Once a result is declared, it is final and cannot be amended. You should therefore take car to ensure that the results you declare is accurate. 

However, if you make an error in your oral announcement you can correct this, provided it is done immediately. 

For more information on the post-result notices and other post-election procedures see our guidance on After the election. 

This guidance is designed to support you with the activities you are required to complete after the declaration of the result. 

You will find guidance on the immediate actions you need to take with regard to giving formal notice of the result, guidance to support you in managing the storage and retention of election documents as well as information on access and supply.

We have included contact information in relation to accounting for the election, details about the collection of candidates’ election spending returns, and the actions required with that process. 

Finally, this guidance includes information about challenges to the election result and the petition process. 

Mayor of London Election 

In addition to declaring the result, you must give public notice of:1  

• the name of the candidate elected (and authorised description if any) 
• the total number of votes given for each candidate
• the number of rejected ballot papers under each of the heads shown in the statement of rejected ballot papers. 

London-wide Assembly Member election 

In addition to declaring the result, you must give public notice of:2  

• the registered political parties to which seats have been allocated and the names of the candidates on the party list who are to fill those seats
• the names of the successful individual London-wide Assembly Member Candidates
  the total number of votes given to each party and individual candidate
• the total number of candidates of registered parties returned as constituency assembly members
  the number of rejected ballot papers under each of the heads shown in the statement of rejected ballot papers
• the name of every person who has been removed from a party list together with the reason for their removal

Publication of the notice of result

You should ensure that a copy of the notice of result is made available to all interested parties as soon as possible, and you must publish it in a conspicuous place or places in the constituency.3  This should include local authority offices, notices boards, libraries and on your local authority website. 

You should also send a copy of the notices to each CRO for them to give public notice of the result within their constituency. 

Mayor of London election

You must return the deposit made by or on behalf of a candidate if the candidate is found to have polled more than 5% of the total number of votes cast at the election.1  

You must return the deposit to the person who made it or their personal representative not later than the next working day after the results of the election is declared.2  

If you are returning a deposit by cheque, it is treated as being returned on the day on which the cheque is posted.3  

You must not return the deposit if the candidate is found to polled equal to or less than 5% of the total number of valid votes cast.4   

London-wide Assembly Member election

You must return the deposit to the person who made it, or their personal representatives, if any party or individual candidate receives more than 2.5% of the total number of votes polled by all the parties and individual candidates.5   

You must return the deposit not later than the next working day after the election result was declared.6

If you are returning a deposit by cheque, it is treated as being returned on the day on which the cheque is posted.7

You must not return the deposit if a party or individual candidate is found to have polled equal to or less than 2.5% of the total number of valid votes cast,8 whether or not they have been allocated a seat. 

Constituency Assembly Member contest

The CRO is responsible for managing the return and forfeiture of deposits at the Constituency Assembly Member contest.9  
 

After the poll, you should carry out a thorough evaluation of all processes outlined in your project plan, seeking feedback from appropriate stakeholders, and produce a lessons learnt report which can be used to inform planning for future electoral events. 

Your evaluation process should involve seeking feedback from the relevant Returning Officers across Greater London and other appropriate stakeholders.

The Commission has provided, as part of the template project plan, some sample objectives and suggested tools that will allow you to measure the extent to which the conduct of the election has been successful. 

The review

The scope of the review should cover all aspects of the election. Your project plan should be used as the starting point for the review, and each process that was planned for and carried out should be reviewed.

A key part of the review will be the consideration of the aims and objectives set out in your project plan and measuring your performance against these.

You should pay particular attention to reviewing:

• your project planning
• whether you were able to secure adequate resources
• the effectiveness of your management and co-ordination structure, including the monitoring of planning for and delivery of the election by the relevant Returning Officers across Greater London
• the effectiveness of your communication strategies and methods 
• the recruitment and training of staff 
• engagement with parties, candidates and agents (as appropriate)
• the management of the nomination process and publication of candidates’ addresses
• the organisation and delivery of the result collation process 
• the suitability of venues used 
• the processing and handling of queries
• any issues affecting the security/integrity of the election

As part of the review you should seek feedback from appropriate stakeholders, including:

• staff
• electors
• candidates, agents and political parties
• relevant Returning Officers from across Greater London and their staff
• local organisations of disabled people, older people and minority ethnic groups, and the council’s access officers

Once you have reviewed all aspects of the election and sought feedback from appropriate stakeholders, you should produce a lessons learnt document. The lessons learnt document should include an analysis of what practices were successful, where these could be used elsewhere, what you would do again or do differently, and key recommendations. The lessons learnt report should then be used to inform your project plan and risk register for future electoral events. You should also provide feedback to relevant Returning Officers across Greater London as part of their review of the conduct of the election in their constituency. 

Election notices published on your website

You will need to consider whether it is appropriate or necessary for the various election notices published on your website to remain there beyond the expiry of the petition period for the election. 

Where each notice serves a specific purpose, i.e. advising who will be a candidate at the election, once the election is over, and the opportunity to question that election has passed, they serve no further purpose. Therefore, you should either remove such notices published on your website, or remove the personal data contained in these notices, once the petition deadline for that election has passed.

Data protection legislation does permit personal data to be stored for longer periods if the data will be processed solely for archiving purposes in the public interest, or for scientific, historical, or statistical purposes and subject to the implementation of appropriate safeguards. For election results, for example, you should retain these on your website as they are for public interest and historical and statistical purposes.

Storage of the nomination papers

You should arrange to store the nomination papers securely for one year after the election due to the time limit for prosecutions.

Destruction of home address form

A candidate must complete a home address form as part of their nomination. Home address forms must be kept securely stored for a period of 35 calendar days after the result has been declared.1

They must be securely destroyed on the next working day after the 35-day period. However, if an election petition relating to the election is presented within the 35 calendar days, the home address forms must be kept securely until the conclusion of the petition proceedings (including any appeal from such proceedings). They must then be securely destroyed on the next working day following the conclusion of the proceedings or appeal.2  

Candidates must report their election spending and donations made towards their campaign after the election. 

The agent for a Mayor of London candidate or an individual London-wide Assembly candidate must submit a spending and donations return to you together with any accompanying documents, such as relevant invoices and receipts within 70 calendar days of the date the election result is declared. Agents must also submit a declaration as to the contents of the return within 70 calendar days of the date the election result is declared.1  The declaration must be in the form set out in the election rules or in a form to like effect.

Candidates must also submit a declaration as to the contents of the return within seven working days of the election agent submitting the return. The declaration must be in the form set out in the election rules or in a form to like effect.2

If the candidate is outside the UK the declaration must be made within 14 calendar days after the candidate’s return to the UK.3  If a candidate is acting as their own agent, they are only required to submit one declaration.

How spending returns may be submitted

It is for you to determine how candidates can submit their expenses, either as hardcopies, by email or both. When determining this you should ensure:

• You advise all candidates and agents of the process in advance
• All candidates and agents are treated fairly and consistently
• The process for submitting spending returns is clear, easy to follow and accessible for all

If you decide to accept spending returns by email you should specify any requirements, such as:

• The specific email address(es) to be used
• How emails should be labelled
• Any requirements regarding the format of email attachments

You should also consider the internal processes you will follow for spending returns submitted by email, for example:

• How you will acknowledge email submissions
• How you will manage expenses returns sent to a different email address, such as having processes in place for monitoring email addresses that could be associated with the GLRO or electoral services team
• How to make other teams across the council aware that they should contact you as soon as possible if they receive any emails regarding spending returns
• How you will store the returns electronically

Checking of spending returns

Whilst there is no duty for you to check the completeness or validity of candidate spending returns, if you are aware that an obvious administrative error has occurred, it would be reasonable for you to advise the candidate or agent of this. For example, if you accept spending returns by email and the covering email refers to an attachment of receipts, which have not been included, it would be reasonable to highlight this to the candidate to enable them to re-send the attachment.

You should ensure that all candidates are treated fairly and consistently, and are provided with the same level of support on the submission of their expenses.

Retention of candidates' spending returns

You must retain a copy of each spending return and declaration, and any accompanying documents, for a period of two years from the date on which you received it. During that period, you must make the copies available for public inspection without charge in your office or another convenient place chosen by you. 

If you have accepted spending returns via email, you should think about how you will prepare returns for inspection. For example, will you allow inspection to take place on a computer under supervision, or will you print off all of the returns.

You must also provide copies of the returns, declarations or any accompanying documents on request. The fee for a copy of any return, declaration or document is 20p for each side of each page.

You must remove the addresses of individuals who have made donations to candidates from all copies of statements of donations made available for inspection or supplied on request. You should also ensure that personal data is redacted from these copies. You should contact your Data Protection Officer for further advice.

At the end of the two year period, if the candidate or the election agent requests them, the returns, declarations and accompanying documents must be returned to the candidate, otherwise they should be destroyed. 

Within 10 days of the deadline for candidates to submit their spending returns to you, you must publish in at least two newspapers circulating in Greater London a notice of the time and place at which the returns, declarations and accompanying documents can be inspected. You must also send a copy of this notice to each election agent.1

If there are any outstanding returns or declarations you must state this in the notice. If the returns/declaration are received subsequently, you must also publish a revised notice in the two newspapers.

You must forward un-redacted copies of all the Mayor of London candidate returns and declarations you receive to the Commission. The Commission may also ask you to provide copies of invoices and receipts on request.1  

Please email PDF copies to [email protected]. It will be of significant help to us in the processing of emailed returns, and prevent queries from us to you, if you:

• scan each return separately 
• send each return by separate email, as very large attachments will be rejected by our server 
• identify the election and the candidate name in the subject line of the email  
• do not password protect emails or provide passwords or secure websites – a normal email is sufficient 
• do not send associated invoices or other supporting documents, we will ask for these if necessary

If you are unable to email PDF copies, you can forward copies of the returns to the following address:

Political Finance and Regulation 
The Electoral Commission
3 Bunhill Row
London
EC1Y 8YZ

The Commission may also ask you to provide copies of individual London-wide Assembly candidates returns and declarations you receive, on request. 

Following the election you may receive requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The GLRO, CROs and EROs are not a public authority under this Act and, as such, are exempt from the disclosure requirements imposed by it.1

However, where possible, the GLRO, CROs and EROs should disclose the requested information, provided this information is already in the public domain, or the information requested does not include personal data. An example of non-personal data would be statistical data providing the total number of electors registered in the Greater London area or the turnout of postal voters.

At scheduled elections, you will be asked to send information and data to us relating to the elections. 

Forms for collecting information and data, and accompanying guidance notes for completion, as well as a Commission feedback form, will be provided through our Bulletin for electoral administrators.

The costs for running the election are paid for by the GLA. The GLA will provide you with instructions for accounting for the elections.

Payment of creditors

You should keep receipts before and throughout the period of the elections for all services/work provided, and pay all creditors as soon as possible after the elections.  

Payment of fees to staff 

When paying your fees to staff you need to consider the following.

Income tax

Under tax rules, a standard starter checklist, which is issued at the time of appointment, must be completed. It needs to be completed only once rather than reviewed every year. You will need to issue a P60 form to the employee at the end of the tax year.   

If you terminate the employment of any of your casual staff following the election and issue them with a P45, then any returning casual staff who work at future elections will need to complete a new standard starter checklist at each new election.    

HMRC real-time information 

All election payments made will be subject to HMRC’s real-time information tax payment system. You should ensure that you liaise with your local authority’s finance and HR departments as soon as possible to ensure that you can comply with the tax rules for all your employees, including any temporary and short-term contract staff. Further guidance is available from HMRC. 

Automatic enrolment into a workplace pension

All employers with staff working in the UK must comply with automatic enrolment requirements. Further guidance is available from the Pensions Regulator.

Election petitions

An election petition can be used to challenge the result of the elections.

An election petition for an Assembly or Mayoral election can be presented by: 
1

• a person claiming to have been a candidate at the election, or
• four or more persons who voted at the election or who had a right to vote at the election, except for electors registered anonymously

What is the basis for an election petition?

The allowable grounds for a petition are that:2

• the person whose election is questioned was not duly elected
• the person whose election is questioned was disqualified at the time of the election
• the election was invalidated by corrupt or illegal practices or on the grounds specified in Sections 164 and 165 of the Representation of the People Act 1983

Who is made a respondent?

The person whose election is questioned by the petition will most probably be made a respondent to the petition. As GLRO, you will be a respondent to the petition if the petition relates to the conduct of the election, and if it relates to the conduct of the election in a particular constituency, the relevant CRO may also be a respondent.3  

Deadlines for bringing petitions

A petition at an Assembly election or at a Mayoral election must be presented within 21 days after the day on which the election was held. Further time is allowed in certain circumstances.4

Any person who is considering presenting an election petition should be advised to take their own legal advice. For any questions relating to election petitions, including confirming the deadlines, you should contact the Election Petitions Office:

The Election Petitions Office 
Room E105 
Royal Courts of Justice 
Strand 
London WC2A 2LL 
Email: [email protected] 
Phone: 0207 947 6877

Any person may apply to the High Court for a declaration that an Assembly Member or the Mayor of London is, or at any time since being elected has been, disqualified from being an Assembly Member or Mayor1 . 

Any person who is considering applying for a judicial declaration of disqualification should be advised to take their own legal advice.

Planning for the election

Voter Materials

Starting the election timetable

Nominations and the Elections Address

Agents

Verification and Count