Guidance for Candidates and Agents at Combined Authority Mayoral elections

The Combined Authority Returning Officer

Each combined authority must appoint one of its officers, or one of the officers of a constituent council, to be the Combined Authority Returning Officer in relation to the election.

The Combined Authority Returning Officer is responsible for the nomination process and for calculating and declaring the result of the election. The Combined Authority Returning Officer will liaise with and coordinate the work of Local Returning Officers in their combined authority area, and they also have the power to give directions to Local Returning Officers relating to the discharge of their functions at the election.

The Combined Authority Returning Officer will offer briefings ahead of the election and we strongly encourage you or your agent to attend, even if you have been an agent or stood for election before.

The Combined Authority Returning Officer will also be the Local Returning Officer for the individual local authority area they represent.

You can contact us to find out who the Combined Authority Returning Officer is for each area. The Combined Authority Returning Officer will also be able to provide contact details for Local Returning Officers.

The Local Returning Officer

Local Returning Officers are responsible for the running of the combined authority mayoral election at a local level. They are responsible for administering the conduct of the poll, the issue and opening of postal ballot papers and the counting of votes in their area.

In areas where there is both a county council and a district council, the election will be administered at district level and the Local Returning Officer will be RO for the district.

The Local Returning Officer is normally a senior officer of the local authority and is independent of the authority in respect of their electoral functions.

You will be able to contact the Local Returning Officer for your area by contacting your local elections office. Addresses and telephone numbers of all elections offices can be found on our website https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter.

The Electoral Registration Officer

The Electoral Registration Officer is responsible for maintaining the register of electors and absent voters’ lists for their local authority area. The Electoral Registration Officer is normally a senior officer in the local authority and may also be the Returning Officer. You can find the contact details for your Electoral Registration Officer at https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter.

The Electoral Commission

We are an independent statutory body established in November 2000 by the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. We are currently headed by ten Commissioners, including a Chair. We report directly to the UK Parliament through a committee chaired by the Speaker of the House of Commons.

We are responsible for registering political parties and non-party campaigners, the monitoring and publication of significant donations to registered political parties and the regulation of party and non-party campaigner spending at certain elections. We also have a role in promoting voter awareness. We are required to report on the administration of certain electoral events, to keep electoral matters under review and, if requested, must review and report on any electoral matter. We also accredit observers to be present at election proceedings.

We do not run elections but have responsibility for providing advice and assistance on electoral matters to all those involved in elections, including Returning Officers, Electoral Registration Officers, political parties and candidates.

We are here to help, so please get in touch if you have any questions.