Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner election - Thursday 15 November

Released on 09 October 2012

The first ever election for a Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) will take place on Thursday 15 November.

Voters in England (outside London) and Wales will elect a Police and Crime Commissioner for their local police force area. Each PCC will be responsible for holding the Chief Constable and police force to account on the public's behalf. The PCC will oversee how crime is tackled in their area and aim to make sure the police are providing a good service.

Nomination papers must be delivered to the Surrey Police Area Returning Officer by no later than 12 noon on Friday 19 October 2012.

The Notice of election and Notice of deadline for candidate addresses can be found at www.guildford.gov.uk/pccelection Opens in a new window

Working together for a secure, fair and efficient election

- Guildford Borough Council is co-ordinating the election for the Surrey Police Area Returning Officer (PARO). The PARO is responsible for the overall conduct of Surrey's election and will work with the Local Returning Officer (LRO) in each Surrey district and borough.

Voting on 15 November from one list of Surrey candidates

- Polling stations across Surrey will be open from 7am to 10pm. The supplementary vote system will be used for the first time during these elections. This means that the Surrey PCC will not be elected by the traditional 'first past the post' method.

- There will be one set of candidates for the Police and Crime Commissioner across the whole of Surrey. All voters can make a first and second choice (their supplementary vote) from the list to decide who will oversee how crime is tackled in Surrey. There will be corresponding changes to the count process, with the possibility of a second stage count of second preferences if no candidate gets at least 50% of the votes in the first count.

Count and result announcement on 16 November

- Counting in each borough or district will take place on Friday 16 November. During the count, each district and borough will give their first round results to the PARO in Guildford. The decision to go to a second stage count - or announce an overall result - can only be made by the PARO.

- If necessary, the PARO will then instruct the districts and boroughs to go to a second stage of counting for the relevant supplementary (second choice) votes. The second stage count results will again be passed by each district and borough to the PARO.

- The PARO will announce the final result and the winning candidate in Guildford.