Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947

Nomination of Candidates.

2 (1) It shall not be competent to elect to the office of county councillor or of town councillor any person unless a nomination paper in respect of him is delivered in the case of an election of a county councillor to the returning officer at the place specified in the notice of election, or in the case of an election of town councillors to the town clerk at his office, not later than the time appointed for that purpose by Part II of this Schedule.

(2) The nomination paper shall be in the appropriate form contained in Part V of this Schedule, or in a form substantially to the like effect.

(3) The nomination paper in the case of an election of a county councillor shall state—

(a) if the name of the candidate appears in the register of local government electors for any electoral division within the county or for any burgh within the county, the name and address and register number of the candidate as appearing in such of the said registers as is specified in the nomination paper;

(b) if the name of the candidate does not appear in any of the said registers, the full name of the candidate and his place of residence within the county (including any such burgh as aforesaid) and such information with respect to his place of residence during the twelve months before the date of the nomination as will show whether he has during the whole of the said twelve months resided within the county (including any such burgh as aforesaid);

(c) whether, to the best of the knowledge, information and belief of the proposers, the candidate is of full age and a British subject and not subject to any legal incapacity, and whether any of the disqualifications set forth in section fifty-two of this Act applies in his case;

and shall be subscribed by two proposers being local government electors for the electoral division to which the nomination applies.

(4) The nomination paper in the case of an election of town councillors for a burgh or in the case of a burgh divided into wards for a ward shall state—

(a) if the name of the candidate appears in the register of local government electors for the burgh, the name and address and register number of the candidate as appearing in the said register;

(b) if the name of the candidate does not appear in the said register, the full name of the candidate and his place of residence within the burgh and such information with respect to his place of residence during the twelve months before the date of his nomination as will show whether he has during the whole of the said twelve months resided within the burgh;

(c) whether, to the best of the knowledge, information and beliet of the proposers, the candidate is of full age and a British subject and not subject to any legal incapacity, and whether any of the disqualifications set forth in section fifty-two of this Act applies in his case;

and shall be subscribed by two proposers being two local government electors for the burgh or, in the case of a burgh divided into wards, for the ward to which the nomination applies, and shall also be subscribed by five other local government electors for the burgh or ward, as the case may be, as assenting to the nomination.

(5) The nomination paper shall contain a statement subscribed by the candidate or by a solicitor duly authorised by him, consenting to be nominated as a candidate and that, if elected, he accepts office as a councillor and will faithfully perform the duties of the office, and a statement whether he is of full age and a British subject and not subject to any legal incapacity, and whether any of the disqualifications set forth in section fifty-two of this Act applies in his case.

(6) It shall not be competent to nominate as a candidate at an election of town councillors a person who at the time of nomination holds the office of town councillor of the burgh unless he falls to retire at the date of the election or has delivered to the town clerk a notice of resignation to take effect at or before the date of the election.

(7) No person shall at an election of a county councillor sign more than one nomination paper in respect of the same electoral division, and if he does so his signature shall be operative only in the case of the paper which is first delivered.

(8) No person shall at an election of town councillors sign more than one nomination paper in respect of the same candidate, nor shall he sign more nomination papers than there are vacancies to be filled in the burgh or, if the burgh is divided into wards, in the ward, and if he signs nomination papers otherwise than is permitted under this sub-paragraph, his signature shall be inoperative in all but those papers, up to the permitted number, which are first delivered.

(9) Neither the returning officer nor any depute returning officer shall sign any nomination paper as proposer, assenter, candidate or solicitor for a candidate and if he does so, his signature shall be inoperative.

(10) The returning officer in the case of an election of a county councillor, and the town clerk in the case of an election of a town councillor, shall receive a nomination paper and deal with it as valid, if—

(a) the name and address of the person nominated by the nomination paper appear in the register of local government electors for any part of the county or burgh, as the case may be, or, if the name and address of the person nominated do not so appear, the place of his residence is within the county or burgh, as the case may be, and it is declared in or appears from the nomination paper that he has during the whole of the twelve months preceding the date of nomination resided within the county or burgh, as the case may be; and

(b) it appears from the declarations in the nomination paper that the person nominated is of full age and a British subject and not subject to any legal incapacity and that none of the disqualifications set forth in section fifty-two of this Act applies in his case; and

(c) the names and addresses of the proposers and (in the case of an election of a town councillor) the assenters in the nomination paper appear in the register of local government electors for the electoral division or burgh, or in the case of a burgh divided into wards for the ward, to which the nomination paper relates; and

(d) the nomination paper is in or substantially in the form and contains the particulars required by this Schedule; and

(e) the nomination is not invalid by reason of any of the provisions of sub-paragraphs (6), (7), (8) and (9) hereof,

but if the nomination paper does not comply with the foregoing provisions, the returning officer or town clerk, as the case may be, shall reject it and it shall be null and void. For the purpose of this sub-paragraph, a county shall include every burgh within the county.