THE CITY OF EDINBURGH COUNCIL

 

COMMUNITY COUNCILS

 

RULES FOR THE ELECTION OF COMMUNITY COUNCIL ELECTED MEMBERS

 

1.         Elections of Community Council Elected Members will be conducted on the general lines of the procedures set out in the Scottish Local Elections Rules 1986 but subject to the following specific modifications.

 

2.         The proceedings at an election will be conducted in accordance with the following timetable :

 

            Notice of Election - Not later than 6 weeks prior to the day of election.

 

            Delivery of Nomination Papers - Not later than 4 pm on the corresponding day 4 weeks prior to the day of election.

 

            Applications relating to postal voting - Not later than 3 weeks after the date of publication of the Notice of Election.

 

            Notice of poll - Not later than 2 weeks prior to the day of election.

 

3.         The date of an election and the hours of polling will be fixed by the Community Council except in the case of a first election when they will be fixed by The City of Edinburgh Council.

 

4.         The Returning Officer will normally be appointed by the Community Council and will not be a candidate for election or appointment to the Community Council.  In the case of a first election, the Returning Officer will be appointed by The City of Edinburgh Council.

 

5.         The Returning Officer may appoint one or more persons to discharge all or any of his/her functions.

 

6.         Any question of interpretation of the Scottish Local Election Rules 1986 as modified by these Rules in their application to the election of Community Council Elected Members will be referred to the Returning Officer.

 

7.                  Any matters arising in connection with the election of Community Council Elected Members will be referred to the Returning Officer whose decision will be final.  There will be no appeal by way of election petition or any other process in the context of Community Council elections.

8.         In addition to the general duty of the Returning Officer to do any act or thing which may be necessary for effectively conducting an election, the Returning Officer in the application of the Scottish Local Election Rules 1986 thereto will be empowered to make any amendments or adjustments as he/she may consider appropriate or necessary in relation to the conduct of any election.

 

9.         Notice of election and notice of poll will be given by exhibition in the area of the Community Council.

 

10.       Each candidate will be nominated by a separate nomination paper which will state the candidate’s full name; his/her home address in full and his/her electoral number; and if different from his/her home address, his/her address as appearing in the Register of Electors.  No other information will be incorporated in the nomination paper.

 

            The nomination paper will be signed by two electors (as defined in the Scheme) as proposers and will include the electoral numbers and home addresses of the persons so signing.          

 

            The nomination paper will contain a statement signed by the candidate accepting the nomination.

 

11.       No person will sign as a proposer more than one nomination paper and if he/she does so, his/her signature will be operative only in the case of the paper first delivered.

 

12.       The Returning Officer will decide on the validity of a nomination paper and his/her decision will be final.

 

13.       If after the latest time for delivery of nominations the number of candidates remaining validly nominated for election :

 

(a)        is less than one-half the number of Elected Members to be elected, the election will be declared void and not held and the Community Council will be held to have been dissolved;

 

(b)        is not less than one-half and not more than the total number or Elected Members to be elected, there will be no poll and on the day of election, and those candidates will be declared elected;

 

(c)        is greater than the number of Elected Members to be elected, a poll will be held.

 

14.              The provisions in the Scottish Local Elections Rules 1985 relating to the withdrawal of candidate’s nominations will not apply.

 

15.       When a poll is held, the votes will be taken by secret ballot.  The ballot of each voter will consist of a ballot paper and each voter may vote and mark his/her ballot paper up to, but not in excess of, the number of times equivalent to the number of Elected Members to be elected.

 

16.       The ballot paper will contain the names and home addresses of the candidates as shown in their respective nomination papers and arranged in alphabetical order of their surnames or, where the surnames are the same, their other names.

 

17.       At an election, persons who are currently registered as absent voters and entitled to vote by post at local government or parliamentary elections will, on written application to the Returning Officer, be allowed to vote by post.

 

            The notice of election will indicate the latest day for the receipt of applications to vote by post.

 

18.       Every ballot paper will be marked with an official mark.

 

19.       The Returning Officer will determine the polling place(s) at which the electors for a particular place will vote and he/she will allot the electors in such manner as he/she thinks most convenient.

 

20.       The Returning Officer will provide such supplies and equipment for conducting the poll as he/she considers necessary.

 

21.       The Returning Officer may appoint such number of presiding officers, polling clerks, enumerators and other officials as he/she considers necessary for the conduct of the election and he/she may pay them such fees as are laid down by the Community Council.  In the case of a first election, the fees will be fixed and paid by the City of Edinburgh Council.

 

22.       No polling cards will be issued or required in an election of Community Council Elected Members.

 

23.       Tendered ballot paper procedure will not apply in an election of Community Council Elected Members.

 

24.       Candidates will not have an official election, polling, counting or other agent.

 

25.              No expenses of candidates will be refunded by the Community Council or the City of Edinburgh Council.

 

26.       The Returning Officer will make such arrangements as he/she considers appropriate for counting the vote as soon as practicable after the close of the poll.

 

27.       The adjudication of doubtful ballot papers will be carried out by the Returning Officer, after consulting with the candidates if present, and the decision of the Returning Officer will be final.

 

28.       When the result of the poll has been ascertained, the Returning Officer will declare to be Elected Members the candidates to whom the majority of the votes have been given, up to the member of Elected Members to be elected.

 

 

29.       The Returning Officer will seal up in separate packets the counted and rejected ballot papers and, along with the other documents used in connection with the conduct of the election, deliver these to the Secretary of the Community Council who will retain them in his/her possession for such period as he/she considers necessary but not less than six months.

 

30.       None of the documents, while retained by the Secretary, will be available for inspection except the marked copies of the lists of electors.

 

31.       Within the required period in terms of paragraph 10 (c) of the Scheme, the Returning Officer will call the Annual General Meeting of the Community Council following an ordinary election and will occupy the chair at that meeting until a chairman of the Community Council has been elected.  In the case of a first election, the Returning Officer will call a meeting within 21 days of the election.