{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/senedd-cymru-representation-of-the-people-order-2025/article-18",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/senedd-cymru-representation-of-the-people-order-2025/article-18.json",
  "legislation": "wsi/2025/864",
  "legislation_title": "The Senedd Cymru (Representation of the People) Order 2025",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/senedd-cymru-representation-of-the-people-order-2025",
  "path": "article/18",
  "kind": "article",
  "number": "18",
  "heading": "Returning officers",
  "text": "(1) For the purpose of Senedd elections there must be a returning officer for each Senedd constituency, and such persons must hold office in accordance with the following provisions of this article.\n(2) A returning officer is the person—\n(a) who is appointed under section 35(1A)(a) of the 1983 Act to be the returning officer for elections of councillors of a county or county borough situated wholly or partly in the Senedd constituency, and\n(b) in the case where there is more than one such person, who is for the time being designated by the Welsh Ministers as returning officer for the constituency.\n(3) A designation made under this article must be in writing.\n(4) The office of returning officer is a distinct office from that by virtue of which the person becomes returning officer.\n(5) Where a person takes any office by virtue of which that person becomes a returning officer, that person, and not the outgoing holder of the office, must complete the conduct of any outstanding election in accordance with the Senedd election rules.",
  "extent": "E+W",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "I",
      "label": "I1",
      "text": "Art. 18 in force at 18.7.2025, see art. 1(2)"
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f1",
      "text": "Section 35(1A) was inserted by section 66(6) of, and paragraph 68(7) of Schedule 16 to, the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 (c. 19)."
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/wsi/2025/864/article/18",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-28T22:57:06.457930+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}