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It appears that you're using a version of Freeform that is not compatible with the version of ExpressionEngine you're using. Freeform 4.1.4 makes a compatibility update for EE 2.8+, which changed the way CSRF handling works (specifically, EE changed things from XID_TOKEN to CSRF_TOKEN).

The version of Freeform you're using is also over 4 years old. The latest version available for Freeform 4.x for EE2 is Freeform 4.2.5. I would recommend you update to this version to resolve this issue (and several other issues).

If you're using the Pro version of Freeform, you will have access to this update inside your Solspace account. If this is the free version of Freeform, you'll need to contact Solspace support for the updated version (select "Account" from the Product menu in support form).

It looks like you are using ce_cache module. You need to escape the cache for form so it can get fresh CSRF token and XID for each refresh.

Try:

{exp:ce_cache:escape}
    {exp:freeform:form
        form_name="council_nom"
        required="first_name|last_name|email"
        notify_user="yes" 
        user_notification_template="default" 
        user_email_field="email"
        notify_admin="yes" 
        admin_notification_template="default_template" 
        admin_notify="[email protected]" 
        return="http://www.4sonline.org/prizes/carson/got_it"
    }

        <h3>Nominated by</h3>
        <label>First name:  </label>
        {freeform:field:first_name}

        <label>Last name:    </label>
        {freeform:field:last_name}

        <label>Email:    </label>
        {freeform:field:email}

        <label>Institution:    </label>
        {freeform:field:institution}

        <h3>Nominee</h3>
        <label>First name</label>
        {freeform:field:nominee_first}

        <label>Last name:    </label>
        {freeform:field:nominee_last}

        <label>Email:    </label>
        {freeform:field:nominee_email}

        <label>Institution:    </label>
        {freeform:field:nominee_institution}


        <label>Rationale (limit 2,000 words)</label>
        {freeform:field:rationale}


        <p>Not so fast!<br/>
          {freeform:captcha} <br>
          If you are not a robot, please type the text above into this box:
          <input type="text" name="captcha" /> <br/>
        </p>

        <p><input type="submit" name="submit" value="Submit" /></p>

    {/exp:freeform:form}
{/exp:ce_cache:escape}