Guidance for Returning Officers administering Local Government Elections in England

As the Returning Officer (RO), you have a responsibility to ensure the secure, safe and effective delivery fo the verification and count process. As part of this you will have undertaken risk assessments and put in place the necessary security measures to manage attendance at verification and the count.

Controlling admission

You should provide lists of those persons entitled to attend at the entrance to the verification and count, and instruct security staff to check the tickets or passes of anyone arriving to attend. 

However, you should also brief security staff that Commission representatives and accredited observers do not need to provide advance notification of where they intend to observe and therefore may not appear on their list but are nevertheless entitled to access the verification and count venue on production of their observer or Commission representative identification badge.

You should, for health, safety and security reasons, record the names of everyone who actually attends the verification and count.

Additionally, your risk assessment may have identified security concerns which justify the need for all attendees to undergo additional checks, such as requiring attendees to show ID and bag checks before being allowed entry, and this can include Commission representatives and accredited observers.

Further information can be found in our guidance on accredited observers and Commission representative. 

You should liaise with the Police to check that their plans for managing the public space outside the count venue will enable people entitled to attend the count to enter and leave the venue freely and without obstruction.

Managing attendees

All attendees need to know what to expect and to understand their role at the verification and count. To support this, your plans should include mechanisms for communicating with and managing the expectations of those attending. The plans should also cover how you will maintain the secrecy of the vote throughout the verification and count.

You should ensure that all attendees at the count, including candidates, their guests, election agents, counting agents and the media, are briefed on and fully understand the process for conducting the count and the standards of behaviour which are expected of them at all times. 

Your written and face-to-face briefings should make it clear that you will be excluding attendees from the count venue if their behaviour interferes with the effective conduct of the count, including the declaration of the results. This should help count staff to carry out verification and count activities without interference from counting agents and other observers.

You should also decide on a policy for the use of mobile phones and photography or filming in the verification and count venue and provide this information in advance to those who are entitled to attend. 

Tickets or entrance passes should be issued to everyone entitled to attend the count, except accredited observers and Commission representatives who will be wearing silver or pink accreditation badges. You should consider issuing different-coloured tickets or passes to identify the different categories of attendees.