Guidance for Returning Officers administering a Scottish Parliament election

Witnesses

Nomination papers for constituency candidates and individual regional candidates must be signed and dated by the candidate and witnessed. The witness must sign the nomination form and provide their full name and address.1

A party list nomination form must contain a statement that it is issued by the Nominating Officer of the party or a person authorised in writing by them and must be signed by them.2 The Nominating Officer or the person authorised in writing by them must also provide their full name and date the form.3

Home address

All candidates, whether constituency candidates, individual regional candidates or those on a party list, must provide their home address on their nomination paper, which:4

• must be completed in full
• must not contain abbreviations
• must be their current home address
• must not be a business address (unless the candidate runs a business from their home)

If any detail of the home address is wrong or omitted, the nomination is not automatically invalid if the description of the place is such as to be commonly understood. 

Offence of making a false statement on a nomination paper

You should remind any person delivering the nomination papers that it is a criminal offence to knowingly make a false statement on nomination papers. If the nomination form includes a commonly used name, you should highlight that the offence also applies if a commonly used name is given that the candidate does not actually commonly use. You may warn candidates and parties that the penalty for a false statement is either a fine, currently set at a maximum of £10,000,5 and/or up to one year’s imprisonment. You should also point out that if a nomination form is not completed in accordance with the law, the candidate or party will run the risk of challenge if they are elected.