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Mistakes discovered in nominations
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) is to rerun this week’s council elections after mistakes were discovered in nominations.
The issue was revealed this morning when Julia Penny FCA, a content manager at publishers Wolter Kluwer, tweeted, “Thanks to everyone who voted for me in ICAEW Council elections. Unfortunately looks like the vote needs to be rerun though.”
Penny, who had been standing as one of 14 candidates for eight London seats, was asked by tax blogger Christie Malry about what had happened. She replied, “Something went wrong”.
An ICAEW spokeperson told Taxation there had been "inadvertent errors" in some nominations across four constituencies: London, Manchester, the North West and South Essex. They were not spotted until after the election, when it was decided that the fairest solution would be to rerun the elections.
The move could mean the candidates who won on Tuesday lose their newly gained places unless the losing candidates agree to stand down and allow the victors to be returned unopposed. Candidates will have to get their vote out for a second time if their election is contested.
Nominations will re-open later this month, but the ICAEW's rules mean the process will not finish until early August, well into the holiday season. In the meantime, the winning candidates from this week will be allowed to attend council as observers, regardless of whether or not their nomination was valid.
The ICAEW apologised to all candidates and said it was reviewing the processes for elections and “specifically the checks we undertake on nominations to ensure such a situation cannot arise in the future”.
