how you will work with the local police and the SPOC, outlining the division of responsibilities so that there is clarity about each other’s roles, clear lines of communication and agreement how regularly you would expect to be in contact
how you will communicate your approach to maintaining security and electoral integrity with stakeholders and electors, in order to support public confidence in the election
mechanisms for monitoring indicators of possible electoral fraud and thresholds for action in response
specific steps to deal with any safety concerns throughout the process such as:
an agreed approach for the notification and escalation of concerns to the SPOC
regular review of mitigations for specific risks that you have identified
establishing clear plans for the safe management of all electoral events including the verification and count
specific steps to deal with any potential electoral fraud such as:
an agreed approach for referring allegations of fraud for further investigation where appropriate
establishing a process for handling evidence, so that the police can carry out any forensic analysis
Specific risks might include the risks associated with houses of multiple occupation such as student halls of residence or care homes where other people may have access to personal mail or where care givers may assist residents in care homes with completing postal vote applications or postal votes.
Making plans to ensure the security of papers
Your project plan should include a review of security arrangements with the local police to ensure the security of ballot papers throughout the process.
Your security arrangements should prevent unauthorised access to or use of the ballot papers during all stages of the production process and storage between printing and the poll.
You should also take all necessary steps to ensure the security of ballot boxes and relevant stationery from the close of poll through to the declaration of the result, particularly where there is a break in proceedings. Where there is a pause in proceedings for the whole or any part of the period between 7pm and 9am the next day, you have a legal duty to place the documents under your seal and to take proper precautions for the security of the papers and documents. You should liaise with your SPOC on this.
Whichever method of storage you choose, it should be such that you can be satisfied that you have taken all necessary steps to ensure that ballot boxes and other items are kept securely at all times and cannot be interfered with.