As part of your plans for engaging with candidates and agents and supporting their participation in the election, you will need to determine how information about local arrangements will be provided to candidates.
Local arrangements will include information on the dates, times and venues for the key election processes, including:
postal vote issue and openings
polling day
equipment provided to polling stations to make voting easier for disabled voters
the verification and count
As well as communicating your local arrangements, you should provide candidates and agents information on the requirement to show photographic ID at the polling station before a ballot paper is issued:
accepted forms of photographic ID
how electors who do not have an accepted form of photographic ID can apply for a Voter Authority Certificate or an Anonymous Elector's Document
the polling station process in respect of the identification requirement
Your briefing session(s) should also highlight any security arrangements that you have 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 candidates and agents.
You should also cover what standards of behaviour you expect from supporters in the area of the polling place on polling day and the rules around the handling of postal votes by campaigners.
The College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice have produced guidance on Maintaining order and preventing undue influence outside polling stations. This document is designed to help the police think about how best to approach the issue of policing polling stations and offers some practical steps to help them reduce the likelihood of problems arising and deal with any that occur. Although it is aimed at the SPOC it may also be of use to you, particularly in communicating to candidates and agents the standards of behaviour expected from supporters in the area of the polling place. It should be read in conjunction with section 3 of the code of conduct for campaigners: electoral registration, postal voting, proxy voting and polling stations.