Guidance for Candidates and Agents at Scottish Parliament elections

Once the totals for the regional election have been authorised, the Regional Returning Officer (RRO) will collate them and add them together to calculate the total number of votes cast for each party or individual regional candidate in the electoral region.

Who can attend the allocation of regional seats?

Individual regional candidates, party list candidates and their election agents (or a sub-agent instead of an election agent) have the right to attend the allocation of regional seats.

The Nominating Officer of a party list may also attend.1

Additionally, you can invite one other person to attend. This person is in attendance as your guest. They have no powers for functions.

When and where will the allocation of regional seats take place?

The RRO will notify individual regional candidates and the election agent of each party list of the time and place where the allocation of regional seats will take place.

The allocation cannot take place until all the constituency results within the region have been declared.

Recalculation

If present at the allocation of seats, individual regional candidates and the election agent for each party list (or, in the agent’s absence, one of the candidates on the list) may prior to the allocation of seats, request that the RRO conducts a recalculation of the total number of regional votes given for each registered party and each individual candidate in all of the constituencies included in the region. However, the RRO may refuse to do so if they believe the request is unreasonable.2

There is no provision at this stage to request a recount of votes.

Calculation and allocation of regional seats

Each region is allocated seven seats to be filled. A mathematical formula (called modified d’Hondt) determines who obtains those seats.3

This formula sees the number of votes cast in the regional election for each party or individual candidate divided by the number of constituency seats they have gained, plus one.

The first regional seat is allocated to the party or candidate who has the largest figure after the RRO performs this calculation.

To allocate the second to seventh regional seats, the calculation is repeated, but each time the number that the regional vote figure must be divided by will be the total number of seats already won (regional and constituency), plus one.

The seats each party is entitled to are filled by the candidates in the order in which their names appear on their party list.

Once an individual candidate has been allocated a seat, or a party has been allocated as many seats as there are candidates on its list, they are removed from the calculation for the allocation of the remaining seats.