returning officer

American  

noun

British.

1. a public official appointed to conduct and preside at an election.

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returning officer British  

noun

1. (in Britain, Canada, Australia, etc) an official in charge of conducting an election in a constituency or electoral district, who supervises the counting of votes and announces the results

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Etymology

Origin of returning officer

First recorded in 1720–30

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

returning officer

Following the election, it said it would "prepare a statutory report on all aspects of the Senedd election, including monitoring returning officer performance and making any necessary recommendations to the Welsh government".

From BBC ● May 6, 2026

However, the by-election's acting returning officer said polling station staff were trained to look for undue influence on voters and "no such issues" had been reported during polling hours.

From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2026

Richardson said Hardings had "publicly admitted full responsibility for the production error", and both the Crown Prosecution Service and the acting returning officer had been made aware of the issue.

From BBC ● Feb. 25, 2026

The date of the poll is decided by MPs and the returning officer works backwards from that date, often scrambling to organise ballot papers, polling stations and staff on a short timescale.

From BBC ● Feb. 13, 2024

The returning officer, who kindly came round to my hotel to announce the result, told me that he had never seen so many spoiled votes at any election.

From Lalage's Lovers by Birmingham, George A.