Running electoral registration - Scotland

Legislation outline 

This part of the guidance describes the transitional actions you are required to take to implement the changes introduced by The Absent Voting (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2026 and The Absent Voting (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Order 2026. 

The transitional actions include the need to correct, remove or align existing absent voting arrangements as necessary to allow for convergence of these records. This convergence will then enable the use of the UK digital service for absent voting applications in Scotland from the relevant day.

The relevant day is defined in legislation as 3 November 2026.1

This guidance will help you to understand:

• the discrepancies in existing absent voting arrangements that must be removed 
• the appropriate action to take to enable records to be corrected, removed or aligned by the relevant day
• the appropriate action to take as soon as practicable after the relevant day to update records and inform voters

This process will involve software changes to the EMS to enable absent voting records to be amended, removed or aligned where electors hold both UK Parliament elections and Scottish Parliament and Local council election absent voting arrangements.

Planning for the required actions 

You will need to plan how and when you will undertake the actions required to enable convergence of absent voting records by the relevant day. 

When making your plans you should consider:

• the volume of affected absent voters
• how the convergence process will interact with your canvass activities
• the potential for any by-elections during this period 

Depending on the volume of discrepancies in your absent voting records, we recommend your plans allow for a minimum of 6 weeks to communicate with affected electors and process any resulting changes in the lead up to the relevant day. This should be enough time to deal with resulting issues such as where an elector finds their absent voting arrangement is incorrect for any particular poll, and they wish to reapply for that arrangement. 

To help you plan for this work, we have provided a summary of the actions to be taken before and after the relevant day.

Pre-relevant day actions

A discrepancy notice must be sent to each elector who has UK Parliament and Scottish Parliament / Local council election absent voting arrangements and those records contain any of the following discrepancies: 

• postal vote delivery to different addresses2    
• a signature waiver for one set of arrangements but not the other3
• differing proxy name and/or address details4
• a postal vote arrangement for some polls and a proxy vote arrangement for others5

The discrepancy notice must inform the elector of the discrepancy, explain that, unless the elector takes action, their entitlement to vote by post or proxy in Scottish Parliamentary and local council elections will cease to have effect on the relevant day, and invite them to make a fresh application in time for the necessary change(s) to be made to the record before the relevant day.6

You will need to process any applications made in response to these notices.

Post-relevant day actions

Some absent voting records will be automatically updated following the relevant day, when the: 

• signatures held on records differ for the UK Parliament or the Scottish Parliament and Local council elections7
• signature refresh dates are different for proxy appointments8
• maximum period for a Scottish Parliament and Local council postal voting arrangement or proxy postal vote arrangement is amended9

As these are automated processes required to enable the convergence of records you do not need to give any notice to the elector that these changes are taking effect.

You are also required to update absent voting records where a proxy postal vote arrangement is in place for UK Parliament and Scottish Parliament and Local council elections, by removing the Scottish Parliament and Local council elections postal proxy arrangement. In this scenario you must notify the elector and proxy of this change, as soon as practicable after the relevant day.10