belief no person, nor any club, society, or association, has, on my behalf, made any payment, or given, promised, or offered any reward, office, employment, or valuable consideration, or incurred any liability on account of or in respect of the conduct or management of the said election;

And I further solemnly and sincerely declare that I have paid to my Election Agent [if the candidate is also his own Election Agent, leave out "to my Election Agent "] the sum of pounds and no more

for the purpose of the said election, and that, except as specified in the said return, no money, security, or equivalent for money has to my knowledge or belief been paid, advanced, given, or deposited by anyone to or in the hands of my Election Agent [or if the candidate is his own Election Agent, "myself"] or any other person for the purpose of defraying any expenses incurred on my behalf on account of or in respect of the conduct or management of the said election;

And I further solemnly and sincerely declare that I will not, except so far as I may be permitted by law, at any future time make or be party to the making or giving of, any payment, reward, office, employment, or valuable consideration for the purpose of defraying any such expenses as last mentioned, or provide or be party to the providing of any money, security, or equivalent for money for the purpose of defraying any such expenses.

Signed and declared by the above-named declarant on the

election for the county [or borough] of

of

candidate at the on the

day

, do hereby solemnly and sincerely declare that I have examined the return of election expenses about to be transmitted by me to the returning officer at the said election, and now shown to me and marked and to the best of my knowledge and belief that

return is correct;

And I hereby further solemnly and sincerely declare that, except as appears from that return, I have not and to the best of my knowledge and belief no other person, nor any club, society, or association has on behalf of the said candidate made any payment, or given, promised, or offered any reward, office, employment, or valuable consideration, or incurred any liability on account of or in respect of the conduct or management of the said election;

And I further solemnly and sincerely declare that I have received from the said candidate pounds and no more [or nothing] for the purpose of the said election, and that, except as specified in the said return sent by me, no money, security, or equivalent for money

has been paid, advanced, given, or deposited by any one to me or in my hands, or, to the best of my knowledge and belief, to or in the hands of any other person for the purpose of defraying any expenses incurred on behalf of the said candidate on account of, or in respect of the conduct or management of the said election.

Signature of declarant.

Signed and declared by the above-named declarant on the

A. B.

I, A. B., being Election Agent to C. D., candidate at the election for the county [or borough] of

on the

day of

make the following return respecting election expenses of the said candidate at the said election [or where the candidate has named himself as Election Agent, "I, C. D., candidate at the election for the county [or borough] of

on the day of

, acting as my own Election Agent, make the following return respecting my election expenses at the said election "].

Receipts.

Received of [the above-named candidate] [or where the candidate\ is his own Election Agent, "Paid by me"]

andidate

£

Received of J. K.

[Here set out the name and description of every person, club, society, or association, whether the candidate or not, from whom any money, securities, or equivalent of money was received in respect of expenses incurred on account of or in connection with or incidental to the above election, and the amount received from each person, club, society, or association separately.]

Expenditure.

Paid to E. F., the returning officer for the said county [or]

borough] for his charges at the said election

Personal expenses of the said C. D., paid by himself [or if the candidate is his own Election Agent, "Paid by me as candidate"]

Do.

£

£

do., paid by me [or if the candidate is his own Election Agent, add "acting as Election £ Agent"].

Received by me for my services as Election Agent at the] said election [or if the candidate is his own Election Agent, £ leave out this item]

Paid to G. H. as sub-agent of the polling district of

[The name and description of each paid to him must be set out separately.]

sub-agent and the sum

£

[The names and descriptions of every polling agent, clerk, and messenger, and the sum paid to each, must be set out separately either in the account or in a separate list annexed to and referred to in the account, thus, "Paid to polling agent (or as the case may be) as per annexed list, £

Paid to the following persons in respect of goods supplied or work and labour done:

To P. Q. (printing).

To M. N. (advertising)

To R. S. (stationery)

[The name and description of each person, and the nature of the goods supplied, or the work and labour done by each, must be set out separately either in the account or in a separate list annexed to and referred to in the account.]

Paid for postage

Paid for telegrams.

Paid for the hire of rooms as follows:

For holding public meetings

For committee rooms

[A room hired for a public meeting or for a committee room must be named or described so as to identify it; and the name and description of every person to whom any payment was made for each such room, together with the amount paid, must be set out separately either in the account or in a separate list annexed to and referred to in the account.]

Paid for miscellaneous matters, namely

.

[The name and description of each person to whom any sum is paid, and the reason for which it was paid to him, must be set out separately either in the account or in a separate list annexed to and referred to in the account.]

of the

In addition to the above, I am aware, as Election Agent for C. D. [or if the candidate is his own Election Agent, leave out " as Election Agent for C. D."] following disputed and unpaid claims, namelyDisputed claims

By T. U. for

[Here set out the name and description of each person whose claim is disputed, the amount of the claim, and the goods, work, or other matter on the ground of which the claim is based.]

£

Unpaid claims allowed by the High Court to be paid after the proper time or in respect of which application has been or is about to be made to the High CourtBy M. 0. for

[Here state the name and description of each person to whom any such claim is due, and the amount of the claim, and the goods, work, and labour or other matter on account of which the claim is due.]

£

(Signed)

A. B.

FORM OF DECLARATION AS TO EXPENSES.

Form for Candidate where declared a Candidate or nominated in his absence

I,

and taking no part in the Election.

held on the

having been nominated [or having been declared by others] in my absence [to be] a candidate at the election for the county or borough of do hereby solemnly and sincerely declare that I have taken no part whatever in the said election.

day of

And I further solemnly and sincerely declare that [or with the exception of I have not, and no person, club, society, or association at my expense has, made any payment or given, promised, or offered, any reward, office, employment, or valuable consideration, or incurred any liability on account of or in respect of the conduct or management of the said election.

And I further solemnly and sincerely declare that [or with the exception of I have not paid any money or given any security or equivalent for money to the person acting as my Election Agent at the said election, or to any other person, club, society, or association on account of or in respect of the conduct or management of the said election, and that [or with the exception of

] I am entirely ignorant of any money, security, or equivalent for money having been paid, advanced, given, or deposited by any one for the purpose of defraying any expenses incurred on account of or in respect of the conduct or management of the said election.

And I further solemnly and sincerely declare that I will not, except so far as I may be permitted by law, at any future time make or be party to the making or giving of any payment, reward, office, employment, or valuable consideration for the purpose of defraying any such expenses as last mentioned, or provide or be party to the providing of any money, security, or equivalent of money for the purpose of defraying any such expenses.

Signature of declarant.

Signed and declared by the above-named declarant on the

C.D.

As to the consequences of a candidate or Election Agent knowingly making a false declaration, see CORRUPT PRACTICES.

If without some authorised excuse a candidate or an Election Agent fails to comply with the requirements of the Act as to the return and declaration respecting election expenses, he is guilty of an illegal practice (see ibid. s. 33 (6)). As to what is an authorised excuse for non-compliance with such provisions, and as to the granting of relief by the Court in such case, see ibid. s. 34; see also RELIEF (ELECTORAL). The returning officer, within ten days after receiving the return respecting election expenses, must publish a summary of it in at least two newspapers circulating in the county or borough for which the election was held, accompanied by a notice of the time and place at which the return and declarations can be inspected. The return and declarations must be kept by the returning officer for two years, and are open to inspection by any person on payment of a fee of one shilling (ibid. s. 35).

MUNICIPAL AND OTHER ELECTIONS.-Expenditure at municipal elections was first placed under statutory regulation by the Municipal Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Practices) Acts, 1884, 47 & 48 Vict. c. 70. That Act contains provisions with respect to expenses at municipal elections which in many respects are similar to those relating to parliamentary elections. There is, however, no provision for the appointment of a paid Election Agent at municipal elections. At such elections, therefore, all duties with regard to the payment and return of election expenses rest directly with the candidate, who is responsible for the same. The candidate at an election of councillors is, in fact, generally his own Election Agent; but he may obtain the assistance of an unpaid agent; the employment for payment of any persons for election purposes, except certain clerks and messengers, and one polling agent in each polling station, would be an illegal employment (see ibid. s. 13).

It is most important to observe that, except in the City of London, election expenses may legally be incurred by or on behalf of any candidate only in the case of an election for the office of councillor. Sec. 5 (1) of the Act of 1884 enacts that, subject to such exception as may be allowed in pursuance of the Act, no sum shall be paid and no expense shall be incurred by or on behalf of a candidate at an election, whether before, during, or after an election, on account of or in respect of the conduct or management of such election, save that in the case of the election of a councillor a sum may be paid and expense incurred not in excess of the maximum amount following-that is to say, the sum of twenty-five pounds, and if the number of electors in the borough or ward exceeds 500, an additional amount of threepence for each elector above the first 500 electors. Any candidate or agent of a candidate or person who knowingly acts in contravention of this section is guilty of an illegal practice (ibid. s. 5 (2)). Where there are two or more joint candidates at an election, the maximum amount of the expenses for each of such joint candidates is to be reduced by one-fourth, or if there are more than two joint candidates by one-third (ibid. s. 5 (3)).

The Act of 1884 applies to municipal elections in the City of London, subject to certain exceptions (ibid. s. 35). See also as to municipal elections in the City of London, the City of London Ballot Act, 1887, 50 Vict. c. xiii. s. 11.

The provisions of the Act of 1884 with regard to election expenses