The Police and Crime Commissioner Elections Order 2012

Postal voting statements: additional personal identifier verification

52.—(1) A local returning officer may on any occasion at which a postal voters’ ballot box is opened in accordance with paragraph 47 undertake verification of the personal identifiers on any postal voting statement that has on a prior occasion been placed in the receptacle for postal voting statements.

(2) Where a local returning officer undertakes additional verification of personal identifiers, the officer must—

(a) remove as many postal voting statements from the receptacle for postal voting statements as the officer wishes to subject to additional verification, and

(b) compare the date of birth and the signature on each such postal voting statement against the date of birth and signature contained in the personal identifiers record relating to the person to whom the postal ballot paper was addressed.

(3) Where the local returning officer is no longer satisfied that the postal voting statement has been duly completed the officer must mark the statement “rejected” and before placing the postal voting statement in the receptacle for rejected votes (verification procedure), the officer must—

(a) show it to the agents and must permit them to view the entries in the personal identifiers record which relate to the person to whom the postal ballot paper was addressed, and if any of them object to the officer’s decision, the officer must add the words “rejection objected to”;

(b) open any postal ballot box and retrieve the ballot paper corresponding to the ballot paper number on the postal voting statement;

(c) show the ballot paper number on the retrieved ballot paper to the agents; and

(d) attach the ballot paper to the postal voting statement.

(4) Following the removal of a postal ballot paper from a postal ballot box the local returning officer must lock the postal ballot box (if it has a lock) and reseal it in the presence of the agents.

(5) Whilst retrieving a ballot paper in accordance with sub-paragraph (3), the local returning officer and the officer’s staff—

(a) must keep the ballot papers face downwards and take proper precautions for preventing any person seeing the votes made on the ballot papers, and

(b) must not be permitted to view the corresponding number list used at the issue of postal ballot papers.