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

To help you meet any challenges, you will need to set up processes for effective co-operation and communication between the different ROs in your combined authority area.

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

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

• whether you have scheduled combined polls in your combined authority area, and what the scale of this combination would be
• the potential for any by-elections to be combined with the combined authority mayoral election
• turnout projections and how this impacts on all stages of your election planning
• the knowledge and experience among local ROs in your area and the processes involved at this type of election
• the content and dispatch of the election address booklet which contains the candidates’ campaign statements, and how to consider the delivery of this booklet against the first issue of postal votes
• 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 of or in parts of the combined authority 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 combined authority mayoral election may come under considerable scrutiny – from voters, candidates and the media.

You should consider and learn lessons from experiences at all other recent polls in your area.

Nature of a Combined Authority Mayoral election

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

The evolving political landscape could also mean that even in places where there have traditionally been large majorities in other contests, this may no longer be the case, meaning the focus and circumstances could be different from anything experienced in your area before.

Given the possibility of close and hard-fought contests, you should be prepared for the integrity of the election 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 election process effectively. It is therefore crucial that you put in place detailed and robust plans for monitoring and maintaining the integrity of the elections in your area. You should work closely with the local police, 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 a particular election 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, you should consider the potential for a high turnout 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 election, and this will include having robust contingency plans in place that you can turn to where required. 

At any election, there is the potential for a high number of applications for registration and Voter Authority Certificates to be made close to the deadline for the elections. This should be anticipated and built into planning, reflecting lessons learnt from the experience of recent electoral events, especially in the context of poll card or postal vote dispatch or volumes of ballot papers. 

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 stakeholders 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. 

There are a range of factors which will impact on how the verification and counting of votes will be managed – the size, population, geography and demographics of the combined authority area, and the scale of combination (if any), will all have an impact on the available options for managing this part of the process. This re enforces the need for early engagement and consultation on how this will be managed.

In particular, turnout will impact planning for the verification and count, with it being 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 combined authority area.