The guidance has been prepared by the Electoral Commission, and laid before Parliament, in accordance with section 58 of the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025 (SERRA).
It applies in relation to electronic material published in connection with Scottish Parliamentary elections and council elections in Scotland. The purpose of this guidance is to:
explain the operation of Part 8 of the Act, concerned with information that is to be included with digital material and how to comply with its requirements
explain how the Electoral Commission will undertake its enforcement functions where there is a breach or suspected breach of Part 8 of the Act.
Non-party campaigners at Scottish Parliamentary elections and council elections in Scotland also must comply with separate digital imprints requirements in the Elections Act 2022, and with requirements for imprints on printed material.
This guidance only covers the additional requirements in SERRA that certain organic digital material at Scottish elections must include an imprint. For guidance on all relevant imprints requirements, non-party campaigners should read our non-statutory guidance.
Where the guidance says that something must be done, this means that it is a requirement in either primary or secondary legislation.
The guidance uses ‘you’ to mean both the promoter of the material, and anyone else on whose behalf it has been published. This is because it is the promoter and/or anyone on whose behalf material has been published who commit an offence under section 54 of SERRA if material is published contrary to Part 8 of the Act.
Key terms are explained throughout the guidance, and also provided in an alphabetical list at the end of the document.
The Electoral Commission and the police must have regard to this guidance when exercising their functions under Part 8 of the Act.
The Electoral Commission may propose revisions to this guidance from time to time in accordance with the Act or when directed to do so by Scottish Ministers.
The examples used in this guidance relate to functionality on digital platforms as of June 2025. The general principles set out in the guidance continue to apply in the event that functionality changes, or new platforms emerge.
Introduction
Under the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025, the law requires imprints to be displayed on some kinds of electronic material. This guidance refers to electronic material as ‘digital material’.
If you publish material without an imprint when one is required, you may be committing an offence.