# The Justices of the Peace (Size and Chairmanship of Bench) Rules 2002, Article 11: Miscellaneous provisions about ballots


(1) If a justice has been elected chairman and his name was included on a ballot paper for the election of deputy chairman—
(a) all the votes for him as deputy chairman shall be disregarded and shall no longer be counted as votes;
(b) if that justice received a first choice vote from a voter for the office of deputy chairman, the second choice vote given by that voter for the office of deputy chairman, if any, shall be counted as a first choice vote cast by that voter; and
(c) if that justice received a second choice vote from a voter for the office of deputy chairman, the third choice vote given by that voter for the office of deputy chairman, if any, shall be counted as a second choice vote cast by that voter (and so on).
(2) If a justice withdraws his nomination on the date of posting the ballot papers or at any time after that date up to (and including) the closing date for receipt of completed ballot papers—
(a) all the votes for that justice shall be disregarded and shall no longer be counted as votes;
(b) if that justice received a first choice vote from a voter, the second choice vote given by that voter shall be counted as a first choice vote; and
(c) if that justice received a second choice vote from a voter, the third choice vote given by that voter shall be counted as a second choice vote (and so on).
(3) Where a ballot paper—
(a) is returned unmarked; or
(b) in a postal ballot, is not marked with a figure ‘1’ or is marked in such a manner that there is doubt as to the order of preference of the voter; or
(c) in a ballot held at a meeting, is marked in such a manner that there is doubt as to the identity of the justice or justices for whom the vote is cast,
the ballot paper or the vote (as the case may be) shall be rejected when the votes are counted.
(4) There shall be no disclosure as to how any justice voted in any ballot.
(5) The justices' chief executive shall—
(a) keep a note of the date that a ballot paper was received by him; and
(b) keep the ballot papers received for a period of 12 months commencing with the day after the election meeting.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2002/193/article/11 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/justices-of-the-peace-size-and-chairmanship-of-bench-rules-2002/article-11
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.