Agenda item - OPC elections - update and information

Claire Wardle, Electoral Services and Local Land Charges Manager, B&HCC

Copy of presentation by the OPC Chair attached.

Elections for the OPC are held every four years. There are 9 electoral zones for the elections which are aligned with the wards in the city. The election is done by postal ballot and the deadline to register to vote is 17^th June 2015. You can only vote in the OPC elections, if you are registered to vote. This process is automatic if you over 70 years old, but if you are aged between 60-70 then you need to check if you are registered. You can only vote for the candidate which is standing in the zone you reside in. The best way of checking your eligibility is to contact the Electoral Services team by emailing them at electors@brighton-hove.gov.uk or ringing on 01273 291999.     

To stand as a candidate one needs to be over 60 years old and live in Brighton & Hove, on the electoral register. You need to apply to stand and the registration pack can be obtained from the Electoral Services team. This pack includes a nomination paper, as one needs to be nominated by two people aged over 60 who are resident in that zone (it previously had been 10 nominees). You also need to complete a personal statement of up to 150 words to say who you are, why you are standing, at what you hope to achieve if you became a member of the OPC. You also need to sign a code of conduct. It is important to note that you do not have to be resident in the zone that you stand for election in.     

The OPC was the first elected older people body in the UK and there is the opportunity to choose 9 members of the Council. The key dates for the election process are:

For potential candidates

21^st May 2015: Notice of Election published

5^th June: Need to have submitted one’s nomination paper to be a candidate by 4pm on that date

8^th June: Publication of statements of persons nominated. So one can see who is standing in the area

For voters in the OPC election

17^th June: need to be registered to vote by this date

18^th June: despatch of postal votes

24^th June: Publication of notice of poll which helps people to check whether they have got the voting slips

Then up until 2^nd July to vote

3^rd July: count of the votes.

Claire Wardman confirmed that the voting slips would be sent out with a pre-paid first class envelop in which to return their completed ballot paper. It was important to note that if only one candidate was standing in each of the 9 zones then no election would be needed. The OPC needed to make this clear, so that people were not left concerned about whether they had not been able to vote.

It was suggested that if people were planning to stand in one zone, that they contact the OPC’s secretary to ask which zones there were known to be candidates standing in case this meant they chose to stand in the area with no known candidate. The OPC also agreed to put up information on their website about who the known candidates were and where they were intending to stand.

In response to the suggestion that unsuccessful candidates could be kept on file and offered the chance to join the OPC if a member had to stand down.  The potential to co-opt members to replace any future vacancies was agreed to currently be the best method of replacing any member if they have to stand down, as any other means would involve changing the constitution.

The Chair suggested that the new members of the OPC could discuss issues such as co-option and other means of filling vacancies and see whether this would need a change of constitution. He clarified that all the current members of the OPC stand down before the election and all of them who chose to stand would have to be re-elected back onto the OPC, including those who were previously co-optees.

Up to four co-optees could be invited to sit on the OPC and all OPC members would be expected to serve a term of four years.

The count for the election would take place in Brighton Town Hall on the 3^rd July.

The OPC website would put up all the information on known candidates as soon as possible.