The Recall of MPs Act 2015 (Recall Petition) Regulations 2016

Retrieval of cancelled postal signing sheets

109.—(1) Where it appears to the petition officer that a cancelled postal signing sheet has been placed—

(a) in a postal signers’ ballot box,

(b) in the receptacle for signing sheet envelopes, or

(c) in a postal ballot box,

the officer must proceed as follows.

(2) The petition officer must, on at least one occasion on which a postal signers’ ballot box is opened in accordance with regulation 103 (opening of postal signers’ ballot box), also open any postal ballot box and the receptacle for signing sheet envelopes and—

(a) retrieve the cancelled signing sheet;

(b) retrieve the postal petition statement or declaration of identity (as the case may be) that relates to a cancelled signing sheet from the receptacle for postal petition statements (verification procedure) or receptacle for declarations of identity (as the case may be);

(c) attach any cancelled postal signing sheet to the postal petition statement or declaration of identity to which it relates;

(d) place the cancelled documents in a separate packet and deal with that packet in the manner provided for by regulations 94 and 95 (spoilt postal signing sheets) or regulation 98 (cancellation of postal signing sheets); and

(e) unless the postal ballot box has been opened for the purposes of the counting of signing sheets under regulation 39 (the count), re-lock (if it has a lock) and re-seal the postal ballot box.