This article will discuss the election and voting process in general and not individual political parties.
The Scottish Parliament election will be held on 6th May 2021 to elect 129 Members of The Scottish Parliament (MSPs) to what will be the parliament’s 6th session.
To gain a majority, a party must win at least 65 seats. If no party gains 65 seats or more, the party with the most seats may choose to form a minority government perhaps with an agreement of support from another party. This means that another party agrees to support some of the government’s proposals. After the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, the SNP
Another option is to form a coalition where two (or maybe even three) parties form a government. After the 1999 and the 2003 Scottish Parliament election, Labour and the Liberal Democrats formed a coalition
Can students vote?
To vote in Scottish Parliament elections you must be a British or Irish citizen aged 16 or over, be registered to vote at an address in Scotland and not be excluded from voting.
If your term time address is different from your home address i.e you have moved away for university you may be able to register to vote at both addresses however you can only vote once in national elections. Students must decide whether to vote in their home constituency or their university consistency.
Citizens from other countries can vote if they have permission to enter or stay in the UK or don’t need permission. In 2020, Scotland introduced new legislation that allows all foreign nationals with leave to remain in the UK to vote in elections. This means that international students currently studying in Scotland are eligible to vote.
Students must ensure they are registered to vote which can be done online or by post.
How does voting work?
There are three ways to vote in Scottish elections. You can vote in person at the polling station, by post or by proxy (someone else casts your vote on your behalf). However, you can only vote by proxy if you will be out of the country on election day, have a medical condition or you cannot attend the polling station due to work commitments.
If you intend to vote by proxy or by post you must apply for this in advance.
At the moment, it has yet to be confirmed what social distancing measures will be in place at polling stations or if there will be an increase in postal votes.
The Scottish Parliament elections use the Additional Members System (AMS) voting method. This elects 73 ‘list’ MSPs who represent an individual constituencies and 56 regional MSPs who represent a region (a group of constituencies). Each region has 7 MSPs who are chosen from party lists.
When you cast your vote you will be given two ballot papers – one to select your constituency MSP where you will select one candidate and another to select a political party.
The constituency MSPs are elected based on which candidates received the most votes (but not necessarily a majority). Regional MSPs are selected based on the percentage of votes a political party receives from the second ballot paper.
How will campaigning work this year?
The weeks leading up to a parliamentary election usually consist of door to door campaigning, delivering leaflets, debates and local events. However, understandably the Covid-19 restrictions mean that things may be slightly different this year.
The Scottish Government have confirmed that leafleting should be able to go ahead from the 15th March and door to door campaigning can take place from the 5th April subject to Covid-19 cases decreasing.
In the meantime, most parties will be focusing on telephone canvassing, zoom meetings and using social media to campaign. University political societies may also conduct some campaigning within your university.
You can check if you are registered to vote on the Electoral Commission website.
