Modifications etc. (not altering text)
C1Sch. 3 modified by Cathedrals Measure 1963 (No. 2), s. 12(3) (as substituted (1.6.1992) by Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure 1992 (No. 1), s. 17(1), Sch. 3 para. 10;Instrument dated 27.5.1992 made by Archbishops of Canterbury and York.
Sch. 3 modified (30.6.1999) by 1999 No. 1, ss. 12(4), 38(2)(3) (with ss. 33, 37, 38(5)(6))
[F139](1)Subject to any directions by the General Synod or the Presidents thereof, elections to the House of Laity shall be carried out during the three months immediately following any dissolution of the General Synod and shall be so carried out in each each diocese during such period within the said three months as shall be fixed by the archbishops of Canterbury and York.
(2)The presiding officer in each diocese or each area of a diocese shall be the registrar of the diocese or a person appointed by him [F2with the approval of the registrar of the province], except that, if the said registrar is a candidate in the election, the presiding officer shall be a person appointed by the registrar of the province. The expenses of the elections shall be paid out of diocesan funds.
F3(2A). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[F4(3)On receipt of the names and addresses of the qualified electors from the diocesan electoral registration officer the presiding officer shall ensure that in respect of the election—
(i)those persons are sent or given nomination papers; and
(ii)only such persons are sent or given voting papers at the address entered against their names in the register of electors.
The presiding officer shall also send nomination papers to any other person who requests them.]
F5(3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F5(3A). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F5(3B). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F5(4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F5(5). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F5(6). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[F6(4)Every candidate must be nominated and seconded by diocesan electors qualified to vote in the area in which the candidate is seeking to be elected. All nominations shall be in writing, shall include the year of the candidate’s birth and shall be delivered either by post, by facsimile transmission or in person to the presiding officer of the area, together with evidence of the candidate’s consent to serve, within such period, being a period of not less than twenty-eight days ending on a date specified by the presiding officer, provided that where a nomination paper has been sent by facsimile transmission the name of the candidate shall not appear on the voting paper unless the original nomination paper has been received by the presiding officer within three days of the closing date for nominations.
(5)It shall be the duty of the presiding officer—
(a)to scrutinise nomination papers as soon as they have been lodged and he shall, without delay, inform the candidate concerned whether the nomination is valid.Where the nomination is invalid the presiding officer shall give his reasons for so ruling and if, by the close of the nomination period, no valid nomination is received, the candidate shall be excluded from the election;
(b)to supply free of charge to a duly nominated candidate in the election one copy of the names and addresses of the qualified electors within seven days of receiving his written request.
(6)If any of the candidates so request the presiding officer shall despatch to every elector election addresses from those candidates being not more than one sheet of A4 paper. Sufficient copies of the addresses shall be provided by the candidates at their own expense and be delivered to the presiding officer by such date as he shall determine being not less than seven days after the close of nominations. The presiding officer shall be under no obligation to despatch to electors election addresses which are received after the due date or which are not in the prescribed form.
(7)It shall be the duty of the presiding officer in any election under these rules to seek to ensure that during the period beginning with the date on which nominations are invited and ending on the last date for the return of voting papers, no papers or other literature except election addresses prepared by the candidates under paragraph 6 of this rule shall be circulated to the electors by him or by or under authority of the diocesan synod or the deanery synod or distributed at a synod meeting which in his opinion are likely to prejudice the election. The rural dean and the lay chairman and secretary of the deanery synod shall also be under a duty to seek to ensure that during the election period no papers or other literature form part of an official circulation or are distributed at a synod meeting which in the opinion of any of them are likely to prejudice the election.
(8)Subject to rule 51, if more candidates are nominated for any area than there are seats to be filled, the election shall be conducted by voting papers by the method of the single transferable vote under rules to be made from time to time as provided by the Standing Orders of the General Synod.Every voting paper, which shall include the year of birth of each candidate, shall be marked and signed on the reverse thereof by the elector and shall be returnable to the presiding officer within such period, being a period of not less than twenty-one days after the date on which the voting paper is issued, as that officer may specify, provided that a voting paper sent by facscimile transmission shall not be counted as a valid vote.
(9)A candidate or a person nominated by him has the right to be present at the counting of the votes in order to scrutinise the count but shall take no part in it. The presiding officer shall give not less than seven days notice in writing to each candidate of the time and place at which the votes are to be counted.
(10)Where within seven days of a count being completed the presiding officer is of the opinion that a recount should take place because of a possible irregularity or inaccuracy in the count, he may, with the concurrence of the registrar of the province, order such a recount and shall give notice in writing to each candidate of the time and place at which the votes are to be recounted.
(11)A full return of the result of any election and of the result sheet shall be sent by the presiding officer within four working days of the declaration of the result to every candidate in the election and to the Secretary General of the General Synod who shall cause it to be examined by an election scrutineer appointed by the Standing Committee of the General Synod. The scrutineer shall have power within ten days of the declaration of the result to order a recount of the voting papers if in his opinion this might be material to the result of the election.
(12)The result sheet shall be publicly displayed in the diocesan office in such manner as the bishop may approve and at the General Synod office until the end of the first group of sessions of the new Synod as the Secretary General may direct.]
[F7[F8(13)]The presiding officer in each area shall ensure that the valid voting papers received by him for the purposes of any election to the House of Laity are preserved for a period of not less than two years beginning with the date of the election.]
Textual Amendments
F1Sch. 3 rule 39 (originally 33) renumbered (1.1.1995) by S.I. 1994/3118, para. 36.
F2Words inserted by S.I. 1973/1865, para. 20(1).
F3Sch. 3 rule 39 para. (2A) omitted (1.1.1995) by virtue of S.I. 1994/3118, para. 36.
F4Sch. 3 rule 39 para. (3) inserted (1.1.1995) by S.I. 1994/3118, para.36.
F5Sch. 3 rule 39 paras. (3)-(6B) expressed to be omitted (1.1.1995) by virtue of S.I. 1994/3118, para. 37.
F6Sch. 3 rule 39 paras. (4)-(12) inserted (1.1.1995) by S.I. 1994/3118, para. 37.
F7Rule 33(7) added by S.I. 1973/1865, para. 21(5).
F8Sch. 3 rule 39 para. (13) (originally (7)) renumbered (1.1.1995) by S.I. 1994/3118, para. 37.