Returning Officer Remit

This remit was adopted by the Board on 2nd August 2022.

The role of Returning Officer is carried out by an equal team of two, both with the title Returning Officer.

Appointment

This role is an annual appointment by the Board. At the end of their term of office, role holders are eligible to be appointed again immediately. If necessary, the Board can ask for recommendations for the role or approach individual candidates directly. The Board will inform Freegle Central of these annual appointments.

A Returning Officer can cease to hold office before the end of the term, as described in the Named Role Holder Ending Term of Office Procedure.

In the event of loss of communication with Returning Officers during an election, Procedure 8 in Election and Poll Procedure will be applied.

Role

The purpose of this role is to run Board, Member and Volunteer polls and elections as requested.

Job Remit

• Organise all elections and Member polls, as detailed in the Freegle Ltd AGM and Election and Poll Procedure documents.
• Organise polls when requested by the Board, Working Groups or Teams
• Maintain records of elections and Member polls on the Freegle Wiki, taking into account confidentiality issues.
• Communicate appropriately with the Board, Members, Central and Working Groups.
• Maintain appropriate confidentiality of information about elections and polls.

Working Practices

• The Returning Officers will use the Returning Officer mailbox as the prime place of communication between themselves, referrals and procedures.
• They should ensure that they keep up to date with messages posted on Central and ensure the Returning Officer mailbox is checked regularly so they are aware of current topics, concerns and communications.
• If a Returning Officer is aware that they will be away from the Internet for a period of 2 weeks or more, they should take all reasonable steps to advise the other Returning Officer and whether they are available for urgent communications by other means (e.g. telephone).
• Prolonged absence without prior notification will be dealt with under section 3 of the Named Role Holder Ending Term of Office Procedure document.
• Any communication with other members whether on Central or Working Groups should be explicit as to whether the RO is posting as the role holder or in a personal capacity.

Relevant Procedures and Guidelines:

• Poll and Election Guidelines - overall explanation of how the Returning Officers run polls and elections
• Election and Poll Procedure - detailed procedures for national polls and elections.
• Poll Voting Protocol Guidelines - poll percentage requirements, including for mandatory affiliation
• Election Timetable Guidelines - indicative timetable for elections
• Director Autopromotion Procedure - rule for autopromotion
• Protocol for Annual General Meeting - for Freegle Ltd AGM

Records of national polls and elections: Records are kept of all polls and elections, whether held on a working group between those members or nationally of all Volunteers and/or Members. The national ones are:

• Polls, current and past - Polls
• Elections, current and past - Election links and Board Elections

Appointments

The Board announced its appointment of Alison Redway and Ray Owen on 29.6.16.

For the 2016 AGM and election, the Board appointed Jacky Barrett as stand-in for Ray Owen.

For the 2017 AGM, Alison Redway and Jacky Barrett were appointed as Returning Officers.

The Board confirmed in October 2017 that Alison and Jacky were willing to continue as Returning Officers for 12 months. This has subsequently beeb reconfirmed, e.g. in September 2021.

• Glossary
• Previous Freegle UK document: Returning Officer