The Fraserburgh Harbour Revision (Constitution) Order 2001

Elections

7.  The following rules shall be observed with respect to the elections for Commissioners under articles 3(1)(a), (b) and (c):—

(1) At least 7 days previous to each election the Commissioners shall make available for inspection at the office of the Commissioners and at the office of the clerk a copy of the lists of electors made up in the manner prescribed in article 6;

(2) The convenor of the Commissioners shall fix the place of the elections, which shall be within the parish;

(3) The Commissioners shall cause the day and place of the election to be advertised in at least one newspaper published or circulating in Fraserburgh not less than thirteen days previous to the election;

(4) The returning officer shall be the Sheriff Principal of the sheriffdom of Grampian, Highlands and Islands or such other person as may be appointed by the Sheriff Principal and the returning officer shall preside at the polling place;

(5) The convenor of the Commissioners may be appointed returning officer under paragraph (4) of this article provided that the convenor is not a candidate at the elections;

(6) Any application by a candidate may be withdrawn by notice of withdrawal to the returning officer and such notice of withdrawal shall be signed by the person who made the application;

(7) If there are no more approved candidates than the number to be elected in a particular class the returning officer shall on or before the Wednesday preceding the election cause public notice to be given of the persons so nominated, which notice shall be affixed in some place accessible to the public within the office of the Commissioners or in some conspicuous place on the outside thereof and advertised in one or more newspapers published or circulating in Fraserburgh, and shall give notice that as the number nominated for election in such class does not exceed the number of vacancies to be filled at the election there will be no poll for that class, and shall further declare that the persons so proposed will on the day of election be deemed to be the elected Commissioners, and on the day of the election the persons so proposed shall accordingly be deemed to be duly elected;

(8) If there are more approved candidates for any of the classes than the number to be elected the returning officer shall order a poll which shall take place on the day fixed for the election and shall be by secret ballot;

(9) The returning officer shall appoint a sufficient number of poll clerks and cause proper polling books to be provided;

(10) Each poll clerk shall have at the polling place copies of the lists of electors certified by the clerk and the votes shall be taken according to such lists;

(11) The poll shall be open at ten o'clock in the forenoon of the day of election, and close at four o'clock in the afternoon of the same day;

(12) No returning officer or poll clerk officiating at any election shall vote at that election;

(13) At the close of the poll the returning officer shall sum up in the polling books the votes taken and shall thereafter sign the polling books, and shall forthwith transmit them to the clerk;

(14) Such of the persons who, being not more than the number of elected Commissioners at an election, shall be found to have the greatest number of valid votes at such election as appearing from the summation of the returning officer in the polling books, which shall be conclusive evidence of the number of votes and who are duly qualified in accordance with the provisions of this Order shall be deemed to be duly elected as Commissioners;

(15) In case of an equality in the number of votes at an election, the Commissioners at their first meeting to be held after such election shall, if necessary to prevent an excess in the number of elected Commissioners, determine by lot which of the persons having such equality of votes shall be the Commissioner or Commissioners.