Ahead of the Scottish council elections in May 2027, we want to update you on our plans for publishing updated guidance and supporting resources for Returning Officers and those who want to stand for election.
Guidance for Returning Officers
We are currently updating our core guidance and resources for Returning Officers to support preparations for the council elections. The guidance will be published in November in our web-based HTML format and is being updated to reflect new legislative provisions.
To support you with planning for the council elections now, we have already updated and published the project plan, risk register and timetable. These have been updated to reflect the provisions set out in The Representation of the People (Postal Voting for Local Government Elections) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2026, which amends the deadline for the replacement of lost and spoilt ballot papers to 5pm on polling day, which we expect to be in force for the polls on 6 May 2027. We aim to publish the other supporting resources by the end of November.
We will be following our usual process for ordering polling station handbooks. An order form link will be circulated in December, with orders finalised in January, for delivery in March 2027.
Guidance for candidates and agents
We will be publishing our updated guidance and resources for candidates and agents in November. Again, these updates are minor amendments that have been identified as part of the feedback from the polls.
We are also developing an animated guide to support the completion of nomination papers at council elections. This resource can be used to complement your briefings and local guidance and support for candidates and agents. We’ll be launching this later this year, and we will notify you through the Bulletin when it’s available.
We will keep you updated on progress of our guidance updates through the Bulletin, but if you have any questions in the meantime or need any further support, please contact the Scotland team at [email protected].