EA Bulletin: 400 Scotland

Following yesterday’s ‘go live’ date for online absent vote applications in Scotland, we would like to remind you of EA bulletin 397 and our transitional guidance for Electoral Registration Officers (EROs).

The transitional guidance covered:

• the discrepancies in existing absent voting arrangements that needed to be resolved
• the actions required to correct, remove or align records by 3 November 2026
• the actions to take as soon as soon as practicable after 3 November 2026 to update records and notify electors

Updated absent voting guidance

Following commencement, we have now updated our absent voting guidance for EROs to reflect the new arrangements that came into force on 3 November 2026.

The updated guidance covers:

• the availability of online absent vote applications for all polls
• the requirement for all absent vote applications to include a National Insurance number, or another approved form of identity verification
• the new maximum three-year duration for new postal vote arrangements

Whilst the new rules and new guidance are now in place, the transitional guidance also covers follow-up activities, including updating records and notifying electors where required.

We will retain this transitional guidance until 31 January 2027 to support EROs in completing any outstanding post-implementation actions.

If you have any queries or require any further support, please contact the Scotland team at [email protected]. 

As outlined in EA Bulletin: 398, we have updated our postal vote and proxy vote application forms to reflect the new processes for absent votes for devolved elections  

The updated forms are now available on the Postal voting and Proxy voting pages of our website. Templates have also been shared with EMS suppliers and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to support integration with the ERO Portal. 

We have a range of resources that can be used to raise awareness of how to vote by post or by proxy. These have been updated to reflect changes to the process.

You can find the updated resources on our website, which include:

• posters
• a flyer
• a press FAQ
• social media graphics and template posts
• web banners
• template copy for websites and newsletters

You can find further resources to support democratic engagement on our website.

If you have any questions about our resources, please contact [email protected].

We’re looking for your support with Welcome to Your Vote Week 2027 (8-14 March).

Welcome to Your Vote Week is our annual awareness week for democratic education, helping young people learn about democracy, voting and elections and feel more confident taking part.  

There are lots of ways you can get involved, from promoting the week through your networks to running activities or events.  

Please sign up to our webinar on Tuesday 1 December 2.00-3.00pm where we'll share more information about the campaign, explore different ways organisations can take part, and highlight the resources and support available.  

If you can't make the webinar, make sure you sign up to Welcome to Your Vote Week 2027 to receive information and resources about how to get involved.

You can see some examples of how organisations supported the week in 2026 here - Welcome to Your Vote Week 2026 | Electoral Commission.  

If you have any questions or would like to discuss further, please don’t hesitate to get in touch at [email protected]