Guidance for Petition Officers

You must provide signing places with certain materials:1  

• Ballot box(es)
• Signing sheets (including tendered signing sheets)
• Materials to enable electors to mark their signing sheets 
• Relevant part of the register
• Absent voters’ lists – postal voters, proxy voters and postal proxies lists
• Form to record the details of electors who have been issued signing sheets after the correction of a clerical error2 (which may be appended to the register)
• Corresponding number list3
• Large-print version of the signing sheet for display inside the signing place 
• A signing sheet refusal list4  
• Daily signing sheet accounts5 and a final signing sheet account6  
• Tendered signing list7  
• List of persons with disabilities assisted by the petition clerk8  
• Guidance for persons signing the petition notice (for display inside the signing place) 
• Large notice showing the accepted forms of photographic ID to be produced when applying for a signing sheet and a statement that further proof of identity may be required to resolve any discrepancy between the signer’s name on the electoral register and the name on the identification used (for display inside the signing place)
• Packets, with seals, in which to place the items to be secured / returned to you, at the daily verification procedure and the end of the signing period, including any postal signing sheets handed in at the signing place
• Any additional equipment you have determined necessary to make the signing process easier and more accessible for disabled voters

You are not required to provide polling booths or compartments, but you may wish to do so. 

In addition, you should provide:

• privacy screens, where a separate room is not available for checking photographic ID in private. The Petition Officer should assess any risk and keep the safety of staff in mind when designating these separate areas 
• mirrors, so that voters who remove their face coverings for identification purposes can ensure their face covering is in place correctly before leaving the private area
• forms for capturing information about provision of photographic ID, such as the Voter ID Evaluation Form (VIDEF)
• a copy of the requirements as to secrecy9  
• envelopes, with seals, in which to place any signing sheets that have been issued but have not been placed in the ballot box
• form or list to record persons named in the postal signers’ lists, but who claim not to have made an application to sign the petition by post
• notepaper for use by petition clerks and assistants
• stationery items as required, e.g. paper clips, drawing pins, adhesive tack, adhesive tape
• plastic sacks for returning stationery and equipment to the verification venue
• envelopes for making up assorted packets

As at elections, you should check that all equipment is fit for purpose and that you have a sufficient quantity.  You should ensure that any additional equipment you have identified to make the signing place accessible is delivered and set up in good time. Our guidance on providing equipment that makes voting easier for disabled voters provides further information to support your planning.

Where a signing place has an induction loop installed, it should be used wherever possible to support the accessibility of the process to voters with hearing loss. Staff should be trained on how to use these.

The number of electors allocated to a signing place will be different to that of an election.  As such, you will be required to provide a greater volume of documentation and stationery for each signing place.  

You will also need to ensure that documentation is stored in a sufficiently robust manner to enable it to be useable for the duration of the petition.  For example, you could keep the signing place registers in lever arch files which are stored securely at the end of each day.

Signing place log

You should prepare a signing place log for petition clerks to use to record any problems or anomalies. This could include matters such as:

• people seen leaving the signing place with a signing sheet, which may cause issues with the signing sheet account
• details about instances where they have asked the prescribed questions
• comprehensive details about suspected fraud such as personation