We get a lot of questions about the electoral roll and elections. For example:
- How many people are on the roll, in total or in particular areas?
- Who has access to the edited roll?
- Whom it has been shared with.
- Questions about turnout.
- Other information held by the returning officer.
In a referendum, the returning officer is often called the counting officer. We do not hold this information. The elections process employs three notable roles:
- The Electoral Registration Officer (ERO)
- Constituency Returning Officer (RO)
- Counting Officer (CO)
These roles are appointed under the Representation of the People Act. They are 'statutory office holders’. This means they work on their own, not for the council. Staff who run elections do so on behalf of the statutory office holders.
This means they are acting as the CO/ERO/RO. The CO/ERO/RO are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI). This is because the Act only applies to ‘public authorities’.
The CO/ERO/RO are not a public authority for the purposes of the Act. This is because they are not in the list of public authorities in Schedule 1 of the Act. A Ministerial Order under s5 has not been made saying they are a public authority.
Although we hold the information on our systems, it doesn’t hold this on our behalf. It holds it for the statutory office holders. It lets them do their duties well and effectively. This means we do not hold this information for FOI purposes.