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Hi,
Not sure where to post this, so thought I'd start in here.
Basically, everything has gone crazy in our small village because of a Neighbourhood Plan exercise. All but one of the long standing parish councillors resigned, and all 6 seats are up for election on May 2nd. Myself and a number of others put ourselves up for election, having never done anything like it before.
Some candidates with a specific cause have been promoted by someone in the village, who used a mo****r instead of their name and didn't put their house number in their address, just the road name.
Those of us who are just passionate independents didn't put promoter and printer details on our flyers. Now someone has reported those of us with them missing to the police for election fraud! Some of these people are scared and are reprinting, but time is running out and I could do without the expense.
a) what are the chances of me getting prosecuted and getting a criminal conviction over this?
b) is the promoter who doesn't give their name or full address also in breach of electoral law?
There's a document on the electoral commission website with these clauses about if you make a mistake, but the subsequent link is a broken one:
1.65 If either you or your agent has mistakenly acted in contravention of the election rules, you can apply for relief from the penalties for any office.
1.66 You should always seek legal advice if considering applying for relief
Many thanks in advance for any advice!
J
Not sure where to post this, so thought I'd start in here.
Basically, everything has gone crazy in our small village because of a Neighbourhood Plan exercise. All but one of the long standing parish councillors resigned, and all 6 seats are up for election on May 2nd. Myself and a number of others put ourselves up for election, having never done anything like it before.
Some candidates with a specific cause have been promoted by someone in the village, who used a mo****r instead of their name and didn't put their house number in their address, just the road name.
Those of us who are just passionate independents didn't put promoter and printer details on our flyers. Now someone has reported those of us with them missing to the police for election fraud! Some of these people are scared and are reprinting, but time is running out and I could do without the expense.
a) what are the chances of me getting prosecuted and getting a criminal conviction over this?
b) is the promoter who doesn't give their name or full address also in breach of electoral law?
There's a document on the electoral commission website with these clauses about if you make a mistake, but the subsequent link is a broken one:
1.65 If either you or your agent has mistakenly acted in contravention of the election rules, you can apply for relief from the penalties for any office.
1.66 You should always seek legal advice if considering applying for relief
Many thanks in advance for any advice!
J
