Nomination papers

[janwhitby]

Mar 24, 2018 21:52:31 GMT timrollpickering said:

Does anyone else think that five different sheets of paper for a council candidate nomination is overkill? Let alone nearly a dozen more information sheets?

And why does the Registered Nominating Officer or their delegate have to sign the authorisation certificate but the candidate has to apply for the party emblem?

With a political will to save resources more, perhaps elections could save a bit of paper by condensing the form?

It's certainly overkill.

I also question why we need '10 nominations' per person at all. Was there a time when there were less nominations? Was there so many candidates putting themselves forward that government found it hard to cope? If many people put themselves forward because they found it easier, would that be such a bad thing for democracy? 
I'm not convinced its a helpful barrier for local elections anymore than the £500 deposit in general elections. 
On the flip-side, was there a time when more nominations were needed? 

[ravikap]

Mar 26, 2018 18:15:46 GMT greenchristian said:

Mar 25, 2018 15:34:06 GMT johnloony said:

PPERA 2000 means an extra form to say you're a party member, and one to choose the logo.

The form actually says that the party has authorised you to be their candidate. There is no legal requirement for party candidates to actually be members of the party for whom they are standing. I know of a number of cases in the past where Green Party paper candidates have been family members of the local activists, or members of green groups like Friends of the Earth but not actual party members.


Probably the most ridiculous waste of paper with the nomination forms are the extra pages of information, which our local Electoral Services department insists have to be handed in with the rest of the paperwork.

Anyway, for anybody wanting to know what paperwork is required, or what has changed since they stood several years ago, the nomination papers can be downloaded from the Electoral Commission Websitecodes (I've linked directly to the page from which you can download the nominations form).

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[casualobserver]

What should a Returning Officer do after close of nominations but before publication of the SOPN if faced with a candidates' consent to nomination form dated more than a month before close of nominations?

[froome]

Apr 4, 2019 11:19:10 GMT casualobserver said:

What should a Returning Officer do after close of nominations but before publication of the SOPN if faced with a candidates' consent to nomination form dated more than a month before close of nominations?

I assume they won't allow the candidate to stand, and they won't appear on the SOPN, unless your RO has a much more relaxed attitude to election laws than most have.

Did their agent not notice in time? One of our candidates was very keen and dated all his forms too early but I spotted that in time.

[timrollpickering]

Is that one in the actual rules or is it a case of the Electoral Commission throwing out needless hurdles and ROs springing them on agents after much of the paperwork has been filled in?

[casualobserver]

Apr 4, 2019 11:50:42 GMT timrollpickering said:

Is that one in the actual rules or is it a case of the Electoral Commission throwing out needless hurdles and ROs springing them on agents after much of the paperwork has been filled in?

That's in the actual rules: Rule 7 (a) of The Local Elections (Principal Areas) (England and Wales) Rules 2006:

"A person shall not be validly nominated unless his consent to nomination is given in writing on or within one month before the last day for the delivery of nomination papers"

[casualobserver]

Apr 4, 2019 11:47:16 GMT froome said:

Apr 4, 2019 11:19:10 GMT casualobserver said:

What should a Returning Officer do after close of nominations but before publication of the SOPN if faced with a candidates' consent to nomination form dated more than a month before close of nominations?

I assume they won't allow the candidate to stand, and they won't appear on the SOPN, unless your RO has a much more relaxed attitude to election laws than most have.

Did their agent not notice in time? One of our candidates was very keen and dated all his forms too early but I spotted that in time.

No, the agent didn't notice the error

[peterl]

On the other hand, if the returning officer has already issued a notice of validity of nomination before noticing then presumably the candidate would still appear on the ballot paper and any challenge would be up to the courts to adjudicate on. Pretty sure that once a nomination paper has been accepted, it can't then be rejected.

[J.G.Harston]

Apr 4, 2019 16:52:27 GMT peterl said:

On the other hand, if the returning officer has already issued a notice of validity of nomination before noticing then presumably the candidate would still appear on the ballot paper and any challenge would be up to the courts to adjudicate on. Pretty sure that once a nomination paper has been accepted, it can't then be rejected.

That's why I hand mine in in person, two weeks before the deadline, and wait while they verify them, and witness that they've signed the 'valid' box at the top.

[johnloony]

Apr 4, 2019 16:52:27 GMT peterl said:

On the other hand, if the returning officer has already issued a notice of validity of nomination before noticing then presumably the candidate would still appear on the ballot paper and any challenge would be up to the courts to adjudicate on. Pretty sure that once a nomination paper has been accepted, it can't then be rejected.

There was a case a few years ago of returning Officer who issued a revised SOPN after the initial one had been published because he discovered after the deadline that one of the candidates did not exist. I think it was in Aberdeen.

[peterl]

Was that the case of the politically engaged dummy?