Guidelines for the European Parliament Elections 2009

A. Appointment of an election agent

1.1 Each candidate must appoint an election agent. The election agent, for the purposes of this Act, is the person who will be responsible for accounting for expenditure on the candidate's campaign. The election agent appointed under this Act is not necessarily the same person who will be present on the candidate's behalf for the counting of votes and who acts on the candidate's behalf for other specific purposes set out in the 1992 Electoral Act.

1.2 Ideally the appointment of the candidate's election agent should be made before any election expenses are incurred. If election expenses are incurred before the election agent is appointed, the candidate must give the election agent details of any such expenses together with all relevant invoices/receipts. It is an offence for a candidate to fail to comply with this requirement.

1.3 Candidates should give careful consideration to the appointment of an election agent. The election agent should be comfortable with handling money and keeping accounts. He/she must maintain proper records of all transactions relating to spending on the candidate's election campaign and retain receipts, invoices or vouchers for inspection, and for public display, by the Standards Commission.

1.4 The candidate must notify the Returning Officer for the constituency, in writing, of the name of the election agent and the address of the office of the agent. This must be done not later than the last day for receiving nominations at the election (11 May 2009).There is no provision on the nomination papers for the candidate to give details of his/her election agent. The Standards Commission has issued a form to Returning Officers which a candidate may use to give details of his/her election agent. The Returning Officer will inform the Standards Commission of the name and address of the election agent appointed. It is very important that candidates ensure that the person notified to the Returning Officer is the person they intend having as their election agent (i.e. the person who will be responsible for accounting for expenditure on the candidate's campaign). The Standards Commission will only accept an Election Expenses Statement from the person notified to it by the Returning Officer as the candidate's election agent.

1.5 A candidate may act as his/her own election agent. If a candidate does not notify the Returning Officer of the appointment of an election agent by the last day for receiving nominations he/she will be deemed to be acting as his/her own election agent. A candidate who acts as his/her own election agent will also be required to comply with the provisions of the Act applying to election agents (see Chapter 2).

1.6 Apart from the national agent of a candidate's political party, the candidate's election agent is the only person who can incur expenses or make payments in connection with the candidate's election campaign. A candidate's election agent can authorise other people, including the candidate, to incur expenses or make payments in connection with the candidate's campaign. A person who is authorised in this way is entitled only to incur expenses or make payments within the specific financial limit laid down by the election agent. The election agent must subsequently account for such expenses or payments.

1.7 A candidate may, at any time, revoke the appointment of an election agent (including his/her own appointment as election agent). Where the appointment of an election agent has been revoked, the candidate must notify the Returning Officer in writing of the name and address of the new election agent (including the candidate's own details if he/she intends to act as his/her own election agent). 

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