Political parties can also register up to 3 emblems.
A candidate of a registered party can choose to have a registered emblem of the party they are representing displayed on the ballot paper.
The candidate (or someone of their behalf), not the election agent or the Nominating Officer (unless they are acting on behalf of the candidate) must make the request in writing. This request must be received by the deadline for delivery of nominations.
To qualify, a candidate must have been authorised to use a party name or description other than ‘Independent’ and/or ‘Annibynnol' (in Wales).1
A candidate may also choose to use an emblem of their party without choosing to use an authorised description. They would need to provide the certificate of authorisation as well as the emblem request form but may choose not to include an authorised description on the nomination paper.
If the party has more than one registered emblem, the candidate should specify which one they want to use. If the candidate does not specify one, or the registered party changes or removes the emblem from the register of political parties after the nomination papers have been submitted but before the close of nominations, you should try to contact the candidate and ask them to select one. You should also tell them that if they do not select a particular emblem before the close of nominations, you will not be able to print an emblem against their name on the ballot paper.
The candidate may provide a high-resolution copy of the emblem for use in the printing of ballot papers, or may request that you download the emblem from the Commission’s website. You must ensure that whatever copy is used is in the same form as the registered emblem.
The maximum size of an emblem on the ballot paper is set by the directions for printing. When adding a party emblem to a ballot paper, the shape of the emblem should not be altered. You must ensure that the emblem is in the same form as the registered emblem – for example, do not stretch emblems into square shapes if they are not registered as square images on our website, as this would have the effect of altering their appearance.
Candidates standing on behalf of more than one registered party who use a joint description may choose to use a registered emblem of one of the parties that have authorised the use of the description. There is no provision for joint emblems to be registered with the Commission.
A Zip file of emblem images will be available on our website. However, while the Zip file is a tool that can be used by your printer to prepare ballot papers, it is the information on the Commission’s register of political parties that should be used for confirming which emblem to print on the ballot papers.