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The Electoral Commission

Trevelyan House

Great Peter Street

London

SW1P 2HW

T: 020 7271 0500

F: 020 7271 0505

Scottish Elections Review

The Scottish Elections Review was established by the Electoral Commission to independently report on the administration of both the Scottish parliamentary and local government elections held on 3 May 2007. This report was published on 23 October 2007.

Following parliamentary and press discussion of one particular aspect of his report, and after discussion with the Commission, Ron Gould wrote a letter to the Chairman of the Commission on 25 October 2007. Mr Gould said in his letter that he wanted to set out his findings once again for the record and confirm that they remain his conclusions.

Ron Gould CM, an international authority on the management of elections, led the Review team which considered the following issues as they related to the conduct of the elections:

Legislation
Roles, relationships and accountability
Planning and timing
Combined elections
Ballot paper and voting issues
Public information
The count

Michael Boda, an experienced elections practitioner and researcher, and Alice Killam, a former Canadian Returning Officer with international experience, were also appointed as senior members of the Review team.

The Review team held meetings with the Electoral Commission, the Scottish Executive, the Scotland Office, political parties, Returning Officers, electoral administrators and other organisations. It also conducted a public consultation exercise and reviewed images of rejected ballot papers.

The full report (see contents) and its appendices are available below. A media briefing which offers a summary of the report and the press release announcing the reports publication are also provided.