returning officer

American

noun

British.

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

returning officer British

noun

(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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of returning officer

First recorded in 1720–30

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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

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

Proceedings were informally suspended early on Monday after the returning officer was allegedly subjected to "obstruction, intimidation, and unwarranted hostility by a number of representatives", a notice said.

From BBC

Barber and Rodman are returning officers; the others are serving in officer roles for the first time.

From Los Angeles Times

If this does not resolve the issue, you can raise your concerns with your council's returning officer.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023