Candidate imprints: Scottish Parliamentary elections and council elections in Scotland
Under the Scottish Parliament (Elections etc) Order 2015, the Representation of the People Act 1983 and the Elections Act 2022, there are rules about putting imprints on election material.
Whenever printed or digital election material is produced, it must contain certain details (which we refer to as an ‘imprint’) to show who is responsible for the material. This helps to ensure there is transparency about who is campaigning.
We provide advice and guidance on these rules, but we do not enforce them. Decisions on the investigation and prosecution of imprint offences are a matter for the police and the prosecution services, and any allegations of non-compliance should be made to the police.
The rules on imprints apply to all constituency candidates and individual regional candidates at Scottish Parliamentary elections, and to all candidates at council elections in Scotland.
Scottish candidate imprints summary box
The new digital imprint rules in the Elections Act 2022 apply across the whole UK, including to candidates at Scottish Parliamentary elections and council elections in Scotland.
We expect the Scottish government to update Scottish digital imprint legislation before the next scheduled polls. When that happens, we will update this guidance.
In the meantime, candidates at any by-elections to the Scottish Parliament or to a Scottish council will be covered by the Scottish digital imprints law and the UK digital imprints law at the same time. You will need to understand both regimes in order to comply.
This factsheet explains the law on print imprints and the Scottish law on digital imprints.