3.—(1) The returning officer shall publish notice of the election, stating—
(a)the place and times at which nomination papers are to be delivered, and
(b)the date of the poll in the event of a contest.
(2) The notice of election shall state the date by which (except in such circumstances as are provided for in paragraph 8 of Schedule 2)—
(a)applications to vote by post or by proxy, and
(b)other applications and notices about postal or proxy voting,
must reach the registration officer in order that they may be effective for the election.
4.—(1) Each candidate shall be nominated by a separate nomination paper, which is signed and delivered by the candidate himself or a person authorised in writing by him.
(2) The nomination paper shall state the candidate's—
(a)full names,
(b)home address in full, and
(c)if desired, description,
and the surname shall be placed first in the list of his names.
(3) The description, if any, must consist of either—
(a)a description (of not more than 6 words in length) which is authorised as mentioned in rule 5; or
(b)the word “Independent”.
(4) Where a nomination paper is delivered in respect of the same person after an earlier paper in respect of that person has been delivered, that later paper shall be deemed to supersede the earlier one.
(5) A nomination paper may consist of a single sheet or of two or more sheets securely fastened together.
5.—(1) A nomination paper may not include a description of a candidate which is likely to lead voters to associate the candidate with a registered political party unless the party is a qualifying party in relation to the electoral region and the description is authorised by a certificate—
(a)issued by or on behalf of the registered nominating officer of the party, and
(b)received by the returning officer at some time during the period for delivery of nomination papers set out in the table in rule 1.
(2) A person shall be guilty of a corrupt practice if he fraudulently purports to be authorised to issue a certificate under paragraph (1) on behalf of a registered political party’s nominating officer.
(3) For the purposes of the application of this rule in relation to an election—
(a)“registered political party” means a party which was registered under Part II of the 2000 Act at the time by which the notice of the election is required to be published by virtue of rule 1 (the relevant time”); and
(b)a registered political party is a qualifying party if the party was at the relevant time registered in the Northern Ireland register maintained under that Part of that Act.
6.—(1) The nomination paper shall be subscribed by two electors as proposer and seconder, and by twenty-eight other electors as assenting to the nomination.
(2) Where a nomination paper bears the signatures of more than the required number of persons as proposing, seconding or assenting to the nomination of a candidate, the signature or signatures (up to the required number) appearing first on the paper in each category shall be taken into account to the exclusion of any others in that category.
(3) The nomination paper shall give the electoral number of each person subscribing it.
(4) The returning officer—
(a)shall supply any elector with a form of nomination paper at the place and during the time for delivery of nomination papers, and
(b)shall at any elector’s request prepare a nomination paper for signature,
but it is not necessary for a nomination to be on a form supplied by the returning officer.
(5) A person shall not subscribe more nomination papers at the same election than there are vacancies to be filled and, if he does, his signature shall be inoperative on any paper other than the papers first delivered up to the number of vacancies, but he shall not be prevented from subscribing a nomination paper by reason only of his having subscribed that of a candidate who has died or withdrawn before delivery of the first mentioned paper.
(6) In this rule “elector” has the same meaning as in regulation 58(4).
7.—(1) A person shall not be validly nominated as a candidate unless his consent to nomination—
(a)is given in writing on or within one month before the day fixed as the last day for the delivery of nomination papers,
(b)is attested by one witness, and
(c)is delivered at the place and within the time for the delivery of nomination papers,
subject to paragraph (2).
(2) If the returning officer is satisfied that owing to the absence of a person from the United Kingdom it has not been reasonably practicable for his consent in writing to be given as mentioned above, a telegram (or any similar means of communication) consenting to his nomination and purporting to have been sent by him shall be deemed for the purposes of this rule to be consent in writing given by him on the day on which it purports to have been sent, and attestation of his consent shall not be required.
(3) A candidate’s consent given under this rule—
(a)shall state the day, month and year of his birth; and
(b)shall state—
(i)that he is aware of the provisions of section 10 of the European Parliamentary Elections Act 2002 ; and
(ii)that to the best of his knowledge and belief he is not disqualified for membership of the office of MEP.
8.—(1) Where the candidate is a relevant citizen of the Union, he shall not be validly nominated as a candidate, unless a declaration under paragraph (2) and a certificate under paragraph (3) are delivered at the place and within the time for the delivery of nomination papers.
(2) The declaration referred to in paragraph (1) must be made by or on behalf of the candidate and state, in addition to his name:
(a)his nationality;
(b)his home address in the United Kingdom in full;
(c)that he is not standing as a candidate for election to the European Parliament in any other Member State at elections held in the same period; and
(d)where his name has been entered in a register of electors in a locality or constituency in the Member State of which he is a national, the name of the locality or constituency where, so far as he knows, his name was last entered.
(3) The certificate referred to in paragraph (1) must be made by the competent administrative authorities in the Member State of which the candidate is a national stating either that he has not been deprived of his right to stand as a candidate in that State or that no such disqualification is known to those authorities.
(4) As soon as practicable after publication of the statement of candidates nominated, the returning officer shall send to the Secretary of State a copy of the declaration made under paragraph (2) by any candidate who stands nominated as a candidate.
(5) In this rule “locality or constituency” and “competent administrative authorities” have the same meaning as they have in the directive of the Council of the European Communities No. 93/109/EC.
9.—(1) A person shall not be validly nominated as a candidate unless the sum of £5,000 is deposited by him or on his behalf with the returning officer at the place and during the time for delivery of nomination papers.
(2) The deposit may be made either—
(a)by the deposit of any legal tender, or
(b)by means of a banker’s draft, or
(c)with the returning officer’s consent, in any other manner,
but the returning officer may refuse to accept a deposit sought to be made by means of a banker’s draft if he does not know that the drawer carries on business as a banker in the United Kingdom.
(4) Where the deposit is made on behalf of the candidate, the person making the deposit shall at the time he makes it give his name and address to the returning officer (unless they have previously been given to him under regulation 34 or 35 of these Regulations).
10. The returning officer shall fix the place in the electoral region at which nomination papers are to be delivered to him, and shall attend there during the time for their delivery and for the making of objections to them.
11.—(1) Except for the purpose of delivering a nomination paper or of assisting the returning officer, no person is entitled to attend the proceedings during the time for delivery of nomination papers or for making objections to them unless he is—
(a)a person standing nominated as a candidate,
(b)the election agent of a candidate, or
(c)a person authorised in writing to deliver a nomination paper.
(2) The right to attend conferred by this rule includes the right—
(a)to inspect, and
(b)to object to the validity of,
any nomination paper.
12.—(1) Where a nomination paper and the candidate’s consent to it (and, where required, a declaration and certificate under rule 8(2) and (3)) are delivered and a deposit is made in accordance with these rules, the candidate shall be deemed to stand nominated unless and until—
(a)the returning officer decides that the nomination paper is invalid; or
(b)proof is given to the returning officer’s satisfaction of the candidate’s death; or
(c)the candidate withdraws.
(2) The returning officer is entitled to hold a nomination paper of a candidate invalid only on one of the following grounds—
(a)that the particulars of the candidate are not as required by law;
(b)that the candidate is disqualified by the Representation of the People Act 1981(1) (which applies in respect of the office of MEP by virtue of section 10(1)(a) of the 2002 Act).
(3) The returning officer shall give his decision on any objection to a nomination paper as soon as practicable after it is made.
(4) Where the returning officer decides that a nomination paper is invalid, he shall endorse and sign on the paper the fact and the reasons for his decision.
(5) The returning officer’s decision that a nomination paper is valid shall be final and shall not be questioned in any proceeding whatsoever.
(6) Subject to paragraph (5) nothing in this rule prevents the validity of a nomination being questioned on a European Parliamentary election petition.
13. A candidate may withdraw his candidature by notice of withdrawal—
(a)signed by him and attested by one witness, and
(b)delivered to the returning officer at the place for delivery of nomination papers.
14.—(1) The returning officer shall prepare and publish a statement (“the statement of candidates nominated”) showing—
(a)the persons who have been and stand nominated as candidates; and
(b)any other persons who have been nominated together with the reason why they no longer stand nominated.
(2) The statement shall show the names, addresses and descriptions of the persons nominated as candidates as given in their nomination papers.
(3) The statement shall show the persons standing nominated as candidates and the names of those candidates shall be arranged alphabetically in order of their surnames, and, if there are two or more of them with the same surname, of their other names.
(4) The returning officer shall send to the Electoral Commission a copy of the statement.
15.—(1) If it appears to the returning officer that any of the persons nominated as a candidate might be disqualified by the Representation of the People Act 1981 (which applies in respect of the office of MEP by virtue of section 10(1)(a) of the 2002 Act) he shall, as soon as practicable after the expiry of the time allowed for the delivery of nomination papers, prepare and publish a draft of the statement required under rule 14.
(2) The draft shall be headed “Draft statement of candidates nominated” and shall omit the names of the persons subscribing the papers but shall contain a notice stating that any person who wishes to object to the nomination of any candidate on the ground that he is disqualified for nomination under the Representation of the People Act 1981 may do so between the hours of 10 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon on the day and at the place specified in the notice; and the day so specified shall be the day next after the last day for the delivery of nomination papers.
16.—(1) Where the proceedings for or in connection with nomination are on any day interrupted or obstructed by riot or open violence—
(a)the proceedings shall be abandoned for that day, and
(b)if that day is the last day for the delivery of nomination papers, the proceedings shall be continued on the next day as if that were the last day of such delivery,
and that day shall be treated for the purposes of these rules as being the last day for such delivery (subject to any further application of this rule in the event of interruption or obstruction on that day).
(2) Where proceedings are abandoned by virtue of this rule nothing—
(a)may be done after they are continued if the time for doing it had passed at the time of the abandonment;
(b)done before the abandonment shall be invalidated by reason of the abandonment.
17.—(1) If the statement of candidates nominated shows more persons standing nominated than there are seats to be filled, a poll shall be taken in accordance with Part III of these rules.
(2) If the statement of candidates nominated shows a number of persons standing nominated which is the same as, or less than, the number of seats to be filled, those persons shall be declared to be elected in accordance with Part IV of these rules.