Response to complaint regarding The Rutland Returning Officer
Myself and other raised a number of concerns about the Returning Officer
for Rutland.
Here is the response I received:
Myself and other raised a number of concerns about the Returning Officer
for Rutland.
Here is the response I received:
Dear Mr Brookes,
Your e-mail addressed to my colleague, John Doyle, has been passed to me for reply.
As we have pointed out in previous correspondence the appointment of the Returning Officer is the responsibility of the local Council, in this case Rutland County Council. Whilst the Commission has the power to monitor the performance of Returning Officers using our performance standards framework we cannot remove them from that position.
You mention in your e-mail that the Returning Officer “lied under oath” in your recent court case. That is a very serious allegation to make and one which, if you wished to pursue it, would need to be made to the Police and backed up with adequate evidence. That is certainly not an issue which falls within the responsibility of the Commission. Similarly, whilst there may be an ongoing police investigation this does not prevent the Returning Officer from carrying out her duties.
The Commission does not have any role in setting the timings for election counts. That is the responsibility of the Returning Officer. We do produce guidance for Returning Officers to assist them in deciding on count arrangements and in 2012 we produced a report on count timings which you can find here: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/149511/Timing-of-election-counts.pdf. For the elections in May the law requires that the counting of those votes starts within four hours of the close of poll. For that reason the counting of votes for the General Election must take precedence and we would expect counts for local and parish elections to take place following the conclusion of the parliamentary count. However, we are conscious that many of those involved in the counting of the parliamentary votes will be involved in the local counts and some staff will also have been on duty during polling day. For that reason we suggest that Returning Officers allow sufficient time between the various counts to ensure that they have enough staff to ensure an accurate and efficient count takes place. In that context the decision to start the local and parish counts in Rutland at 2.00pm on Friday 8 May seems entirely reasonable.
Regards
Chris Hinde
Regional Manager (Midlands)
The Electoral Commission
Midlands Office
Advice and guidance line: 0333 103 1928
Direct dial : 0207 271 0560
