The following official note is being circulated by the Parish Council for consideration by all electors in Chearsley. Anyone with an interest in becoming a Parish Councillor should seriously consider putting their name forward for election when nominations open on 31st March. If anyone has further questions they should contact the Chearsley Parish Clerk in the first instance: helen.v.spurgeon@gmail.com
BRIEFING NOTE –
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
When
are they taking place?
The
Town & Parish Council elections will take place on 7 May 2020. Hours of
poll will be 7am – 10pm.
What
other elections are taking place on this date?
The
Unitary elections for the new Buckinghamshire Council and the Police &
Crime Commissioner elections will also be taking place on 7 May 2020, hours of
poll exactly the same.
How
will the elections be administered?
As
the Register of Electors are not going to be merged before the Elections, the
elections will be administered by the relevant current District offices. For
example, if your town or parish council falls within the existing district of
Wycombe, your election will administered by the Wycombe Elections office. Similarly,
if you fall within the existing district of Aylesbury Vale, then this will be
administered by the Aylesbury Vale district office, and likewise for those
councils that fall within the Chiltern & South Bucks area, your elections
office in the district of Chiltern & South Bucks will administer your
election.
What
is the process for the Verification and Count, and when will they take place?
As
there are three elections taking place on the same day, ALL ballot boxes for
all the elections will need to be verified before any counting takes place.
This is because the Returning Officer will need to ensure that all votes issued
are accounted for, and are also not in the wrong box for the Count.
At
close of poll at 10pm, the Presiding Officers will return their ballot boxes,
and all associated documentation to the Count venues. Verification for all of
the three elections will then take place that evening.
The
Returning Officer has determined that the Count for the Buckinghamshire Unitary
Council Elections will take place on Friday 8 May 2020 commencing at 10am.
The
Count for the Town and Parish Council Elections will take place on Saturday 9
May 2020 commencing at 10am.
The
arrangements for the Police and Crime Commissioner elections are being run by
the Police Area Returning Officer (PARO) for the Thames Valley region. The
Buckinghamshire Returning Officer is still awaiting confirmation on the details
of the Count for this election although it is understood that the Count for
this election will take place on Monday 11 May 2020.
Area
Counts
There
will be area Counts for both the Buckinghamshire Council, and Town & Parish
Council elections on 8 May 2020 and 9 May 2020 respectively.
The
Count for those Town & Parish Councils within the Wycombe ‘district’ will
be held in High Wycombe. The Count for those Town & Parish Councils within
the Aylesbury Vale ‘district’ will be held in Aylesbury, and the Count for
those Town & Parish Councils within the Chiltern & South Bucks ‘districts’
will be held in Denham.
Final
arrangements for the venues for each Count is still being finalised and once
details are available, they will be circulated to all Town and Parish Councils
by the end of February.
Until
the close of the nomination period, the number of contested Town and Parish
Council Elections will not be known. Therefore, the final arrangements for the
Counts will be confirmed at that time.
Ballot
papers
As
there are three elections on the same day, the ballot papers for each election
will be a different colour. Confirmation in relation to what the colour for each
election will be is still awaited.
Notice
of Election
The Notice of Election will be
published on 31 March 2020. The period for nominations will then commence, and
the deadline for nominations for the election will be 4pm on 8 April 2020. Nomination forms can be delivered by parish clerks,
collectively and individually, but cannot be sent in the post or
electronically. Original signed forms must be provided. Candidates can deliver
their own nomination forms if they so wish.
Following
the deadline, a complete statement of persons nominated will be published.
Candidates/Agents
Briefings
The
Returning Officer will be holding briefings across Buckinghamshire for all
candidates and agents in March, which will provide information on the process
for nominations and all confirmed arrangements for the Counts. There will be
briefings in each ‘area’, i.e. in the Wycombe ‘district’, in the Aylesbury Vale
‘district’, and in the Chiltern/South Bucks ‘district’. Dates will be confirmed
in the next week or so for these briefings, and details will sent direct to
Town and Parish clerks.
Nomination
Forms/Information
These
will be sent to all Town and Parish Councils from the Area Offices in the lead
up to the Notice of Election being published. Each Area Office will be in contact
with their respective Town and Parish Councils Clerks and it is currently
envisaged that the forms and information will be circulated by the end of
February. Copies will be held by the individual clerks so candidates can liaise
with them rather than having to visit the Area Office in question. Further
information will be circulated to all Clerks about Purdah by the end of
February (purdah will commence when the Notice of Election is published on 31
March).
Paying
For The Election
As
per previous Town and Parish Elections, the cost of running them will be
absorbed by the Area Offices in the first instance. The Town and Parish
Councils will then be issued with an invoice for the costs relevant for their
own individual election. It is anticipated that the invoices will be sent out
in June. If you wish to receive information of estimated costs of the election
for your council, please contact your relevant ‘district’ office who can
provide some indicative costings for you. Please bear in mind that the costs
will vary depending on whether you have a contested or non-contested election.
Questions/Queries
Please
contact your relevant Area Office if you have any questions or queries relating
to the Town and Parish Council Elections. (These contact details should also be
used on polling day itself).
Contact
Details
Aylesbury:
01296
585701
The
Gateway
Gatehouse
Road
Aylesbury
HP19
8FF
