The Election and Candidates
The first PCC elections will be an historic moment, and will take place on 15 November 2012. Holding the first elections as a freestanding, major democratic event will bring a real focus on this landmark reform and allow for a public debate focused solely on policing.
Further details about the election process and how to stand has been issued by the Electoral Commission.This includes the detail of how to be nominated and the deposit, appointing agents, and campaign spending. The City Of York Council is co-ordinating the election process for North Yorkshire and the City of York.
From the 5th October a new national website http://www.choosemypcc.org.uk was launched. Information on all PCC candidates will be available from here on 26th October. Before then people can register for an e mail to let them know when the information will be available or for a hard copy to be sent to them. There will also be a free phone number for people to order this over the telephone: 0800 1 070708.
A person may stand as a PCC if:
- they are 18 or over
- they are a British, Commonwealth or EU citizen
- they are registered to vote in the force area in which they wish to stand
A person may not stand as a PCC if:
- they have been convicted of an imprisonable offence
- they are a serving; civil servant, judge, police officer, member of the regular armed forces, employee of a council within the force area, employee of a police related agency, employee of another government agency, politically restricted post-holder, member of police staff (including PCSOs) or member of a police authority
MEPs, MSPs, AMs and MPs will be able to stand as PCCs, but will need to stand down from their existing post before being able to accept the post of PCC.
Following the first election in November 2012 elections, the next election will take place in May 2016 and every subsequent 4 years.
The supplementary vote system has been chosen for these elections. This is currently the system used to elect mayors, the closest existing role to PCCs. It seems sensible and consistent to use the same system to elect PCCs. Under the supplementary vote system, a voter is asked to indicate first and second preferences, if no candidate has 50 per cent of the first preference votes, the two candidates with the highest number of first preference votes go forward to a second round.
In the second round of counting ballots indicating a first preference for a candidate that lost the first round are reallocated according to the second preference indicated in the ballot paper.
How to vote in the elections:
- a British citizen living in the UK or registered to vote as a crown servant or member of the armed services
- a European Union citizen living in the UK
- a Commonwealth citizen who either does not need leave to be resident in the UK, or has the necessary leave and is legally resident in the UK
Why Should You Vote?
These historic elections will see, for the first time, one single directly elected individual being made responsible for policing in North Yorkshire and the City of York. The Government are bringing in this post to improve democratic accountability of the service, to be the voice of the people for policing and community safety - in time, this is likely to include the wider criminal justice system - and is therefore a role with enormous responsibility working for you as a resident of North Yorkshire or the City of York.
The only way to ensure that the candidate who best represents your views on policing, community safety and criminal justice is the the person elected, is to vote in the elections on 15 November. Once in post (22 Nov), that individual will hold that position until May 2016.
