Guidance for Returning Officers administering a Scottish Parliament election

Procedure for re-issuing spoilt postal votes

If a person spoils their postal ballot paper(s) and/or postal voting statement, it is possible for them to obtain a replacement postal ballot pack. Replacements can be issued up until 5pm on polling day.1

All parts of the postal vote pack must be returned to you before a replacement can be issued, regardless of whether or not these have been spoilt.2 This includes:

the spoilt postal ballot paper(s) or spoilt postal voting statement, along with the remaining ballot paper(s) or postal voting statement
return envelope B
ballot paper envelope A

A new postal ballot pack can then be issued to the elector.

The legislation requires that any returned spoilt ballot papers and postal voting statements must be cancelled and sealed in a packet for spoilt postal ballot papers, even if only one of them has actually been spoiled.3

In certain circumstances you can cancel a postal vote which is considered spoilt, even if it has been returned to the Constituency Returning Officers. In this case, the spoilt ballot paper and postal voting statement must be retrieved and sealed as described above.4

Up to 5pm on the day before polling day, an elector may return spoilt documents by hand or by post. If the request for a replacement postal ballot pack is made in person, the replacement postal vote may be issued and handed to the elector.

After 5pm on the day before polling day any return of spoilt documents and requests for replacement postal ballot packs must be made in person.5 In such cases, the issue of a replacement can also only be made by hand to the elector.

You must put in place systems to enable you to issue replacements up to 5pm on polling day. You will need to give this particular consideration if you have outsourced the issue of postal votes.

You should consider whether or not particular arrangements need to be put in place for disabled electors when making arrangements to re-issue spoilt ballot papers, as there may be some electors who are unable to attend the elections office due to disability.

Record keeping for spoilt ballot papers

The elector’s name and electoral number must be added to the list of spoilt postal ballot papers to show that the spoilt ballot postal vote has been cancelled.6 The name must not, however, be added if the elector is registered anonymously.7 The ballot paper numbers of the replacement ballot papers must also be added to the list. In the case of a postal proxy, the name and address of the proxy must be added to the list alongside the other details.8

For the purposes of collating data for the statement of postal ballot papers (Form V), you must also add the details of any spoilt ballot papers which have been cancelled to the list of all cancelled postal ballot papers. For more information see our guidance on record keeping for cancelled ballot papers.

This table summarises the procedure for re-issuing spoilt postal votes:

Step	Action to take
Step 1	Before taking the next steps, it is good practice to check if the postal pack has been marked as returned on the postal voters or proxy postal voters list - in this case refer to retrieval of cancelled ballot papers.
Step 2	Ask for the return of the complete postal pack.
Step 3	Issue a new postal ballot pack (ballot paper(s), postal voting statement, instructions, the regional list and relevant envelopes) to the elector. if the request is made after 5pm on the day before polling day, the replacement pack may only be handed to the elector
Step 4	Cancel any returned spoilt ballot papers and postal voting statements.
Step 5	Seal the cancelled documents in a packet for spoilt postal ballot papers and add details to the list of cancelled postal ballot papers.
Step 6	Add the name* and electoral number of the elector and the number of the replacement ballot paper(s) to the list of spoilt postal ballot papers. For postal proxies, also add the proxy name and address. *Exclude the name of anonymously registered electors.

Last updated: 18 November 2025