Postal voting agents are permitted by law to observe the opening of the postal voters’ ballot box, the opening of returned postal votes and the checking of signatures and dates of birth provided on returned postal voting statements.1
You must give constituency candidates, individual regional candidates and the election agent for each party standing nominated at the Scottish Parliament regional election at least 48 hours’ notice of the time and place of any postal vote opening session and the number of agents that may be appointed to attend each opening.2
You are permitted by law to limit the number of postal voting agents appointed. The maximum number that may be appointed by each candidate and party must be the same and must not be less than one per candidate.3
You must be given written notice of the name and address of any postal voting agents before the start of any particular session that the agents are seeking to attend.4
We have developed a form for the notification of appointment of a postal voting agent.
You can find the notification of appointment of a postal voting agent form in the agent section of our resource page.
Secrecy and conduct requirements
Ballot papers will be kept face down throughout a postal vote opening session.
You must supply all postal voting agents with the requirements of secrecy for the opening of postal votes.5
You can find secrecy requirements in the agents section of our resource page.
The key points are that:
anyone attending an opening session must not attempt to see how individual ballot papers have been marked or keep a tally of how ballot papers have been marked
anyone attending a postal vote opening must not attempt to look at identifying numbers or marks on ballot papers, disclose how any particular ballot paper has been marked or pass on any such information gained from the session
anyone found guilty of breaching these requirements can face an unlimited fine, or may be imprisoned for up to six months