Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Election – Update

Voting for the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex election took place yesterday (Thursday, May 6) with the polls closing at 10pm.

Other elections for parish, district and county council also took place yesterday.

The count for the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner election will happen tomorrow (Saturday, May 8) at the Charter Hall in Colchester with the results announced later that day. These will be published on this website and on the Colchester Borough Council website. You can also follow our updates which will be posted on our Facebook and Twitter accounts @PFCCEssex

The term of the incumbent PFCC Roger Hirst will cease on Wednesday, May 12 and the newly or re-elected PFCC will take up office on Thursday, May 13.

The PFCC election is administered locally by the Police Area Returning Officer.  In Essex this is Adrian Pritchard, Chief Executive of Colchester Borough Council.

The elections for the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex takes place every four years. The last election was held in May 2016. The election was due to take place last year but was postponed due to the COVID 19 pandemic. This term will be for three years with the next election taking place in 2024.

Police and Crime Commissioner elections use the Supplementary Vote (SV) system.

Voters mark a first and second choice in two columns on their ballot paper. If one candidate gets more than 50 per cent of first preference votes they are automatically elected. If not, the top two candidates go forward to the next round and all the other candidates are eliminated.

The second-choice votes of the eliminated candidates are then redistributed to the top two candidates and the one with the most votes at the end of the process is declared the winner and sworn in by the Police Area Returning Officer Adrian Pritchard.