g the mber 1.3 or, if in Decem 1.5 Elections durin Elections s of elections in

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1 Elections durin g the canvass and in December Elections during the canvass 1.1 If an election is held between 1 July and 1 December 2015 in any part off the ERO s area, the ERO can postpone the publication of their up to 1 February We have been askedd for our views on whether EROs should postpone the publication off the in those circumstances. 1.2 It will be an operational decisionn for the ERO in eachh case to make on whether or not to delay publication of the and, if so, by how much. In reaching your decision you should consider thee impact of the election on the canvass processes within the area affected byy the election and across the registration area more generally, and in particular whether you can be satisfied that you have had sufficient time to take all necessary steps to ensure your registers r are as accurate and complete as possible by the timee of publication. 1.3 EROs should be aware that the Boundary Commission for England has confirmed that it is the, i.e. the one published on 1 December or, if you choose to postpone publication, the one published byy 1 February, which will be used by the relevant Boundary Commission for their review of UK Parliamentary boundaries. Where publication of the is delayed up to 1 February 2016 due to an election during the canvass, the entries for unconfirmed electors who have not made a successful individual application to register to votee will be removed on publication of the. 1.4 Further guidance for EROs on dealing with electionss during thee canvass can be found in Part 3: The canvass of our IER guidance. Elections in Decem mber 1.5 This guidance is designed to support Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Returning Officers (ROs) with managing the specific challengesc s of elections in 1 An election during the canvasss is defined as any of the following elections, whether general or by- elections, where the date of the poll is between 1 July and 1 December: UK or European Parliamentary elections Scottish Parliamentary or National Assembly for Wales elections Local government unitary, county, county borough, district, metropolitan m borough, London borough and directly elected mayoral elections Local government parish and community council elections in England andd Wales Police and Crime Commissioner elections

2 December. It covers the timing of publication of the and addresses the practical implications off holding ann election in December, including considerations specific to the end of the transition to IER. When should I publish the? 1.6 By law, EROs must publish a revised version of the register byy 1 December There is no provision to delay the publication of the revised r register if an election is held after 1 December. Only if an election is held betweenn 1 July and 1 December 2015 can the publication of the be postponed up to 1 February The requirement to publish by 1 December 2015 means that you have the discretion to decide to publish a revised version of the register before this date. 1.9 However, if the were to be publishedd at any time in, the last date for receiving new applications to register in time for inclusion in that register would be 22 October, and thee determination deadline and deadline for amendments to and removal of register entries for inclusion in a register would be 30 October. Event is published on 1 December (inn England andd Wales) is publishedd on 1 December r (in Scotland) published in Last date for receipt of new applications to register October 2015 (6 working days before the determination deadline) 300 October 2015 Deadline for amendments to and removal of register entries (the last working day of the month prior to the month when the revised published)

3 Event is published on 1 December (inn England andd Wales) is publishedd on 1 December r (in Scotland) published in 300 October 2015 Determination deadline (the last working day of the month prior to the month when the revised published) 1.10 This would therefore mean that the revised register would w not reflect any new electors who had applied to register after 22 October, nor would it reflect any other amendments or deletions which weree determined after 300 October. It would also significantly reduce the window that unconfirmed electors have to make an application to remain registered Publishing on 1 December will help to ensure that the is as accurate and complete as it can be and will maximise opportunities for potential electors to be included. While the publication of the is a key milestone rather than the end of the process, the use of the for the review of UK Parliamentary boundaries creates a particula focus onn the quality of the register at the point of publication Taking all this into account, we recommend that you publish the on 1 December rather than on an earlier date in. Whenever you decide to publish, you should be able to explainn the reasons for your decision. When should poll cards be sent and which register should be used to generate them? 1.13 For an election taking place on 3, 10 or 17 December, the notice of election will be published before 1 December, i.e. before the deadline for publishing the revised register. Returning Officers must sendd poll cards to those registeredd electors entitled to vote at the election as soon as practicable after publication of the e notice of election If poll cards are sent before the publication of the first interim election notice of alteration on E-19, the dataa used to generate them would not reflectt any additions or deletions which have been determined after the deadline for the September monthly update Taking into account the particular circumstances of an a early December election, there is thereforee a strong argument that the earliest pointt at which it would be

4 practicable to issue poll cards would be immediately following the publication of the first interim election notice of alteration. This approach would also help to ensure that the data used to generate the t issue of poll cards reflects additions a and deletions which have been determined during the canvass period You should put mechanisms in place to ensure that poll cards can be sent to electors who are registered individually as soon as possible after thee first interim notice has been published. However, you should not sendd poll cardss to any unconfirmed electors (see below for further guidance on how h to deal with such electors) The following application and determination deadlines apply too the interim election notices of alteration: 1.18 You should agree the timing andd method of the transfers of thee data with your printers to ensuree that poll cards can be issued as soon as practicable after the first interim notice in order to maximise thee time voters have too receive the information and change their voting method if they wish. Elector numbers 1.19 While the elector numbers printed on the poll cards are a likely too be different to the numbers allocated when the revised, this will w not affect a person s entitlement to vote. You should, however, make clear to polling p station staff at their training session that the elector numbers will be different and a explainn to them that t they should not refer to the elector number printed on the poll card when marking the register and completing the corresponding number list. Ass always, polling station staff should in all cases ask the elector to confirm their name and address and should only use the number as it appears against the elector s details in the polling station register for completing the corresponding number list. Pollingg station staff should also be briefed to ensure they y are able to respond to any queries from electors who may question why the number being read out and written on the corresponding number list is i different t to the one which is printed p on their poll card. Unconfirmed electors 1.20 At the time of publication of the first interim election notice n of alteration, the register will include those electors who were not confirmedd and whoo have not yet made a successful new application too be registered individually ( unconfirmed electors ). However, there is a strong argument that it is not practicable to send these electors a poll card given they won t be entitled to vote at the election unless they have successfully applied to be registered individually in time for inclusion in the register to be used at the election.

5 1.21 We therefore recommend that instead of a poll card you send them a letter containing relevant information from the poll card, such ass the date of the forthcoming election along with an explanation of what they need to do to be able to vote at the election (i.e. apply to register individually by the registration application deadline) and of the voting methods available if they applyy to register in time and the relevant deadlines. Specificc rules apply to unconfirmed electors whoo wish to vote by post ahead of a poll on 3 December (see paragraph 1.27 for further guidance) ). Which register should I run the election on? 1.22 The registerr to be used for nominations will be the one that is in force on the last day for publication of the notice of election. For any election on 3, 10 or 17 December, and assuming the t revisedd publishedd on 1 December, this will be the September register As set out above, if the is to be published on 1 December, you should use the register as amended by the first interim election notice of alteration for your first issue of poll cards to ensure you are basing it on the most up-to-date data as possible Once the is published, it has immediate effect any poll on or after publication. and will apply to Elections on the first Thursday in December 1.25 Where the final election notice of alteration is published beforee the revised published, there will be a number of administrat tive challenges for ROs and EROs. If you are not both the ERO and RO, you will need to liaise with the relevant ERO/RO to discuss any practical implications, including the timely transfer of data For example, for a poll in England on 3 December 2015, the final election notice of alteration will be published on 26 ; however, where the revised published on 1 December, the register to be used for administering the poll will be the 1 Decemberr one. This means that while thee registration application deadline for inclusion on the final election notice of alteration (i.e. E-12) would be 17, potential new electors could submit an application until 20 (the deadline for applications for inclusion on the 1 December register, which falls on E-9) and still be entitled to vote at the election, provided you are able to determine their application by However, the registration application deadline for new electorss and unconfirmed electors wishing to vote by post at an election on 3 December will not be E-9, but 5pm on E-11. This is because the application for a postal vote must state the address in respect of which the applicant is registered or has applied to be registered. Therefore, if a new or unconfirmed elector wants to vote by post att the election on 3 December, they will need to have applied to be registered by the postal vote application deadline, i..e. 5pm onn E-11. The registration application deadline for new and unconfirmed electors who wish to vote by proxy at an election on 3 December is E-9, the same as for those voting in person. This is because the deadline for registration applications to be made in time too be included on the 1

6 December register (E-9) is before thee ordinary proxy application deadline (5pm on E- 6) There are various practical challenges associated with elections on 3 December which include, but are not limited to, the following: Ensuring candidates and agentss have access to the relevant electoral registers. Candidates and agents will needd access to the register for nomination and campaigning purposes. You should put a mechanism m in place to ensure that candidates and agents can be supplied with a copy of o the register in a timely way. This includes supplying them with the first interim notice of alteration as soon as possible afterr its publication on E-19, as well as any subsequentt updates once they have been published. Production of polling station registers. You will need to take account of the fact that polling station registers won t be able to be produced until 1 December and put in place a mechanism to enable you to print and collate thee registers in a limited time. You should consider how to manage thee preparation of yourr ballot boxes to facilitate this The specificc challenges and solutions will vary depending on the particular local circumstances. If you would like any further guidance or would w like to discuss your particular situation, please contact your local Commission team.