Roles and Responsibilities

Petition Officer

In England and Wales, the Petition Officer (PO) is the same person as the (Acting) Returning Officer for the parliamentary constituency.1 This can be the same person as the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO).2   

In Scotland, the Petition Officer is the same person as the Returning Officer for the parliamentary constituency.3

Your role as Petition Officer is to:

  • receive the notice from the Speaker 
  • designate signing places and appoint Petition Clerks and Assistants
  • open a recall petition
  • notify electors that a recall petition has been opened
  • oversee the administration of the petition, including:
    • publishing a register of electors who can sign the petition 
    • notifying electors of the petition
    • issuing and receipt of postal signing sheets
    • overseeing the daily verification and storage of signing sheets
    • counting of signing sheets
  • declare the result, including notifying the Speaker 
  • forward to registration officer (or, in Scotland, retain) documents for secure storage and disposal
  • receive donation and spending returns and make them available for public inspection

As in your role as Returning Officer, as Petition Officer you are subject to breach of official duty provisions. This means that 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 a fine.4

You must also consider accessibility for electors at signing places. 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 lists of absent voters for their local authority area.5 Even where the ERO is the same person as the Petition Officer, they have different functions and responsibilities in law. 

Where a parliamentary constituency crosses local authority boundaries there could be more than one ERO for the Petition Officer to liaise with.

For more information on the role of the ERO at a petition, see our planning guidance.

The Electoral Commission

The Electoral Commission’s role in the process is to:

  • provide advice and guidance to help people understand the rules
  • if necessary, apply to the court for the forfeiture of impermissible donations, 
  • publish a report on any issues relating to administration of a recall petition and the framework for campaign spending and donations at these events

 
 

Last updated: 12 February 2025