Elections 2021 - Broadland District Council
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Elections 2021 Briefing note for candidates and agents PCC, NCC and other Elections This briefing note has been prepared following the initial agent briefing on 15 February and updated following the detailed candidate/agent briefing on 22 March. Version 3 – updated 23 March 2021
The People
The Returning Officers/Local Returning Officer
Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Elections
Police Area Returning Officer (PARO) for Norfolk – Trevor Holden
Deputy PARO – Maxine O’Mahony
Deputy PARO- Sheila Oxtoby
Local Returning Officer (LRO) for Broadland and South Norfolk councils - Trevor Holden
Norfolk County Council (NCC) Elections
NCC Returning Officer – Caroline Clarke
NCC Deputy RO - Helen Edwards
NCC Deputy RO – Katrina Hulatt
Deputy Returning Officer (DRO) for Broadland and South Norfolk councils – Trevor Holden
By-elections and neighbourhood referendums in Broadland and South Norfolk
Returning Officer (RO) and Counting Officer (CO)– Trevor Holden
Key election team contacts
Trevor has appointed the following deputies for Broadland and South Norfolk councils
Linda Mockford - linda.mockford@broadland.gov.uk 01603 430424
Nicola Tullock - ntullock@s-norfolk.gov.uk 01508 533970
Anna Butler - anna.butler@broadland.gov.uk 01603 430427
Election helpline: 01603 430483
election.services@broadland.gov.uk or elections@s-norfolk.gov.uk
Key Dates Key Dates 15 February 10:00 Initial PCC and NCC Candidates and Agents Meeting 22 March 4pm Detailed PCC and NCC Candidates and Agents Meeting Publication of Notice of Election (for all elections) 29 March Submission of candidate election address (PCC election only) noon 8 April Delivery of nominations between the hours of 10am and 4pm from 30 March deadline 4pm - 8 April Deadline for the appointment of an election agent 4pm – 8 April Deadline for Publication of Statement of Persons Nominated 4pm – 9 April Deadline to register to vote (for those currently not registered) 19 April Deadline for receiving new postal or postal proxy votes, or changes to existing applications 5pm –20 April Deadline for receiving new proxy vote applications 5pm - 27 April Deadline for appointing counting agents 28 April Deadline for appointing sub-agents (PCC only) 28 April Election day 7am – 10pm 6 May Deadline for emergency proxy votes 5pm - 6 May
Key information 1. The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Election and Norfolk County Council (NCC) elections are being held across the whole of Norfolk. There will also be a few by-elections and neighbourhood referendums in some areas. Norwich City Council is also holding city elections (a third of the Council). 2. Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Election Trevor Holden is the PARO for Norfolk and is responsible for the PCC nominations, the candidates address, the collation of the verification and count totals and declaring the result for the Norfolk Police area. Each district has to appoint a Local Returning Officer (LRO) to deal with day to day management of the election (polling stations, staffing, poll cards, postal votes, verifying and counting local totals). Trevor is also the LRO for Broadland and South Norfolk councils. 3. Norfolk County Council (NCC) Elections Caroline Clarke is the County Returning Officer. She will appoint Deputy Returning Officers in each district who will be responsible for organising the election in each district. Trevor is the DRO for Broadland and South Norfolk. There are 84 county councillors in total representing 84 electoral divisions across Norfolk. Broadland has 13 divisions and South Norfolk has 12 divisions. 4. Other elections in Broadland and South Norfolk The following parish by-elections will also be held on 6 May: Broadland district Hellesdon North West – 2 vacancies Hellesdon South East – 2 vacancies Spixworth neighbourhood plan referendum Taverham North – 2 vacancies Taverham – neighbourhood plan referendum
South Norfolk district Queen’s Hills, Costessey – 4 vacancies Old Costessey – 1 vacancy Wymondham Central – 1 vacancy Wymondham North – 2 vacancies 5. Poll cards Poll cards will be posted out from 1 April. This first batch will include all those that are currently registered. There will be a later despatch for those that register after 19 March and up to the deadline. These will be posted out around 27 April. 6. Nominations Nomination forms can be delivered on working days between the hours of 10am – 4pm from 30 March – 8 April. The absolute deadline for delivering nomination forms is 4pm on 8 April. However, we recommend not leaving it until the deadline, in case the papers contain errors as you run the risk of not being able to submit a valid nomination on time. There have been changes to nominations and the number of signatures required to sign has now been reduced – 14 signatures (inc. the proposer and seconder) are required for the PCC nomination and two signatures (proposer and seconder) are required for County council nominations. Parish nominations remain unchanged at two signatures. Candidate guidance and the new nomination packs are available on the Electoral Commission (EC) website under the following links: PCC election: https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/candidate-or-agent/police-and-crime- commissioner-elections County Council: https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/candidate-or-agent/local-elections- england Parish councils: https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/candidate-or-agent/parish-council- elections-england
Home address form Candidates not wishing for their home address to be made public, must complete Part 2 of the home address form. County and parish nominations - the relevant area is the name of the district council where the candidate is registered to vote. PCC nominations – the electoral area (constituency, division or ward) which must be within the Norfolk police area. Certificate of authorisation Candidates standing on behalf of a registered political party will need a certificate of authorisation to use the party description and emblem, signed by the registered Nominating Officer of the party or by a person authorised to sign on their behalf. Please ensure that the elections team have up to date certificates, as many have now expired. PCC Deposit The PCC election also requires a deposit of £5,000, payable by cash, banker’s draft or other methods allowed by the PARO. Due to Covid, the PARO’s preferred method of paying the deposit is debit/credit card or BACS (Broadland DC account: 53613623 - sort code 20-62-61, please give the reference as PCC + name of candidate). Please note, that the payment must be received by the close of nominations, if not the nomination will not be valid. Therefore, if paying electronically, please ensure that you give sufficient time for the funds to clear. Anyone wishing to have an informal check of their nominations before they formally submit them, can email their form to the elections team (contact details given at end of this briefing note).
Delivery of nominations Due to Covid restrictions, Trevor has taken the decision that we will only receive nominations at one site. Therefore, nominations must be hand delivered to the following address: Broadland District Council, Thorpe Lodge, 1 Yarmouth Road, Norwich, NR7 0DU. We ask that candidates and agents make an appointment with the team, so that we can manage the receipt of nominations in a safe manner. You will need to contact the elections team to make an appointment (details at the end of this briefing note). Nominations should be delivered by someone the candidate trusts. However, the PCC nomination papers can only be delivered by the candidate, their election agent (provided the candidate has given notice of appointment to the PARO or the notice is submitted when the forms are delivered) or the proposer or seconder shown on the nomination form. Persons delivering nominations will need to wear a mask, unless exempt. 7. Register to vote For those residents not currently registered to vote, the deadline for registering to vote at this election is 19 April. 8. Postal voting The deadline for applying for a postal vote, including postal proxies, is 5pm on 20April 2021. The main issue of postal votes will be sent out on 20 April – this will be for all those voters that have applied to vote by post up until 6 April. We will then send out a later batch around 26 April. It will be a combined fusion pack for the PCC and Norfolk County council election, with the ballot papers attached to the one witness statement. The PCC ballot paper will be printed on white paper and the NCC paper will be printed on yellow paper. Any parish by-elections and neighbourhood plan referendums will be sent out in separate postal vote packs. Parish ballot papers will be printed on green paper and neighbourhood referendums will be printed on lilac paper. We are currently reviewing our postal vote opening procedures to take account of Covid. This will impact on the numbers allowed to observe the process. Further details will be provided but any persons observing will need to wear a mask, unless exempt.
9. Proxy votes
The deadline for applying for a proxy vote is 5pm on 27 April.
The deadline for applying for an emergency proxy vote is 5pm on 6 May 2021. Government
is implementing new emergency proxy voting measures for individuals that need to self-
isolate.
10. Count
The verification and counts will take place at the Arena, Norfolk Showground, Dereham
Road, Norwich, NR5 0TT on the following dates:
Friday 7 May @ 9am – verification of ballot papers (checking the number of ballot papers in
ballot boxes) for all elections and calculating the total PCC verification figure for the Norfolk
Police Area.
Friday 7 May @ 2pm (approx.) – counting the NCC papers, any by-elections and
neighbourhood referendums. Declaring the results for the county divisions in Broadland
and South Norfolk and any by-elections and neighbourhood referendums.
Saturday 8 May @ 10am – counting the PCC ballot papers, amalgamating the total figures
for the Norfolk and declaring the result.
We are currently reviewing the layout of the count to take account of Covid measures. This
will impact on the number of staff that can be appointed and also limit the number of
observers that can attend. Therefore, this may also impact on the timings given above. The
verification and count will be staggered, as we are planning to verify and count four/five
divisions at a time. Further details of the count will be provided but any persons attending
will need to wear a mask, unless exempt.
11. Contact details
Contact details for the elections team:
Telephone: 01603 430483
Email: election.services@broadland.gov.uk or elections@s-norfolk.gov.ukYou can also read
