Appoint a Returning Officer

The school board is required to appoint a returning officer for each election. 

The election schedule requires this to be done 63 days before triennial elections and parent by-elections and 31 days before staff by-elections and student elections. 

The returning officer position is an appointment by the board under regulation 7 of the Education (Board Elections) Regulations 2022, which is quite different to the normal employee/employer role. It is a paid position and boards are advised to enter into a formal agreement with the returning officer regarding agreed services and support that will be available for the returning officer in their role before the role commences. In particular, it is advisable to agree on payment before the person begins work. More information about funding is below.

A returning officer should be given a letter of appointment. 

Letter of appointment (template letter of appointment (26 KB, Docx) (26 KB, Docx))
The letter should include: 

• the negotiated fee for running the election (The MoE have a recommended formula for calculating the returning officer fee, usually 50% of base rate and 25% per student rate.)
• the number of positions to be filled in each election
• if the board is opting into or out of the staggered election cycle
• the presiding members name and contact details
• who to contact to obtain access to the school electoral roll
• if the board is running an electronic election
• which election the RO is running (parent, staff, student)
• The date for the election. 

Boards are strongly encouraged to appoint their returning officer for triennial and mid-term elections early in the process to enable them to ensure delivery of service according to requirements. Resources for returning officers are available on this website, including the Election Handbook, forms, election timetable, templates, and memos. 

Note

• One person may be the returning officer for more than one election.
• No person may be both a candidate and a returning officer for the same election.
• The role of the returning officer is to conduct elections in accordance with legal procedures. 
• The returning office is in-charge of the election process and as long as they follow legislation have complete discretion on the running of the election.
• Good independent practice suggests that the school principal is not the returning officer.

If the returning officer is already a member of board staff, then unless their role is included in their job description, they must still be appointed by the board and agreement reached on their fee.

The Returning officer invoices the board directly for their fee and any disbursements, which the board then accounts for either:

• from election funding, if the appointment is to run triennial or mid-term elections
• by claiming reimbursement from the Ministry of Education (if the appointment is to run a by-election). For more information see hereopen_in_new.

Don’t underestimate the importance of the returning officer role. The person needs an eye for detail, ability to follow instructions, at ease with technology, has good communication and can work effectively under time constraints. The board needs to support the returning officer in their role and to make sure there is no undue influence by the principal or board members. 

The returning officer will also need the cooperation of the schools administration team and help in preparing the electoral rolls. The school’s student management system needs the facility to extract accurate details of parents/caregivers for each student, and can generate address labels for each person on the electoral roll.

Has the board negotiated/settled the Returning Officer's fee?

The board and the returning officer need to agree on the returning officer's fee before the election process gets under way. The fee does not cover any election expenses; it is simply the fee for doing the work. All other expenses must be paid out of, and coded against, the rest of the school’s allocated election funding.

Information on election funding and recommended fee for returning officers can be found in our resources section.

By-elections

The board is reimbursed for by-elections on an actual and reasonable basis. Therefore, a claim has to be made on the Ministry of Education’s websiteopen_in_new. Use the correct form with copies of all receipts, including a receipt from the returning officer for their fee.

There is a maximum of $99.53 available to be claimed for a staff representative by-election using the same form.