Guidance for Returning Officers administering a Senedd election

If you decide an individual candidate’s nomination paper is invalid, you must:1

• state that fact on the nomination paper
• write on it the reasons it is invalid
• sign the paper

You should contact the candidate as soon as possible so that they may have the opportunity wherever possible to submit another nomination paper by the close of nominations.

Objections

You must make a decision on an objection to an individual nomination as soon as reasonably practicable after the objection has been made.2 For more information see our guidance on objections to nomination papers.

Sending notice of your decision 

As soon as practicable after your decision has been made, you must send notice of your decision that nomination papers are valid or invalid to each individual candidate.3

Once you have decided that a nomination form is valid, that decision cannot be challenged during the election, although it may be challenged after the election by way of an election petition.4

We have produced a checklist which sets out what you will need to consider and specific things to look out for when determining a nomination.
   
You can find the nomination checklist in the nominations section of our resource page.