EA Bulletin: 370 Scotland

Ahead of the annual canvass beginning in Scotland, we have a set of resources available to support Electoral Registration Officers in delivering the canvass, promoting it locally and encouraging eligible electors to complete the required steps.

The resources include:

• Social media graphics
• Template social media messaging
• Template press releases

The social media graphics are simple and versatile, with just an icon representing different stages of the canvass. We have also provided template social media messaging to accompany the graphics, so Electoral Registration Officers can choose what will work best for them and their eligible electors.

If you have questions about these resources, please contact [email protected]  or [email protected]    

We have published our annual report on electoral registration in Great Britain, which looks at key trends around the annual canvass and registration.

In the five years since changes to the canvass process, there are still challenges to address.  These include picking up ongoing population movement and issues with registering particular groups. Response rates from households where there is a suspected change have declined in the last five years.  Registers are therefore unlikely to reflect all changes to electors' details.  

This situation is unlikely to improve without significant changes to the current electoral registration system. We continue to advocate for new approaches to ensure that everyone is able to register easily and participate in our democracy. These include forms of assisted, integrated, direct or automatic registration, which would provide opportunities to ensure many more citizens are accurately registered to vote. We are confident that the Scottish and UK governments could deliver these changes to the current system of electoral registration. 

Welcome to your vote week 2025 was our fifth annual awareness raising week. We’d like to thank everyone who took part and supported young people to ‘get informed and get involved’.  

Here's what happened in 2025

The Youth Voice Network for Scotland met with the former MP for Glasgow Central, Alison Thewliss, to ask her about her experiences as an elected representative. They also held an in-person session in Edinburgh to celebrate this year's theme and marking the week with a debate activity.

Members of the Scottish Parliament also marked the week with a motion, commending the work of the Electoral Commission’s Youth Voice Champions to support young people developing their knowledge around politics, democracy and elections.  

Engagement 

• 590,000+ young people*
• 4,830 educators and partners*
• 460 organisation and individuals signed up 
• 2,290+ engagements on social media 
• 38 elected representatives supported the week

*Projected reach from survey responses, partner feedback and school engagement. 

After taking part in the week: 

• 85% said their young people had more knowledge about democracy* 
• 76% said their young people were more confident to engage in democracy* 
• 70% said their young people were more likely to register to vote *

*Percentage of survey respondents. 

Partner activity 

• The Dismiss campaign, delivered by Ofcom and Shout Out UK reached over 1.7 million people. 
• The Politics Project delivered training to 81 teachers and youth practitioners. 89% of participants felt more confident delivering democratic education and 96% would recommend the workshop to colleagues. 

Resource downloads 

• 2,000+ downloads of Welcome to Your Vote Week resources
• 850+ downloads of our new mis-and disinformation resources, created in partnership with Shout Out UK. 

Join in next year  

Welcome to your vote week 2026 will take place from 9 – 15 March.  

To stay up to date, sign up for our education newsletter.

If you have any questions or want to get in touch with us, please contact [email protected] . 

Earlier this year we asked for your views on the Electoral Commission’s role and future as we created our new vision and values. These were published for the first time in our 2025/26 – 2029/30 Corporate Plan. We are pleased to share our new vision, values, and motivation with you all:

Our vision at the Electoral Commission is a fair democracy fit for the future. This is what we strive towards in every aspect of our work.

To achieve this, we have four values that guide our decision-making, approach, and our interactions with partners, stakeholders, and voters.

Including everyone

We are committed to removing barriers in the electoral system, and lead by example. We put voters first and aim to be accessible to all.

Expert impact

We’re independent and politically impartial, using data to advise, inform, and drive progress. We provide clear insight that supports decision-making.

Open and engaging

We instil trust through our clear communication and our approachable and passionate people. Responsible, proportionate and fair, our words are backed by action.

Connected in ambition

We are a team player, supporting and working with others to deliver the best for voters and candidates. We are proactive and constructive with those we regulate.

Underpinning all of this is our motivation: for the voter. Voters are at the heart of our democracy and central to our work. Everything we do is to help people trust, value, and take part in elections.

We want to thank everyone who took part in the process. Your contributions were very helpful in shaping how we will work in the next five years.

In the next year we will also be developing our Scottish Corporate Plan focusing on our devolved responsibilities. This will be submitted to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body along with our Estimate for 2027/28 at the end of September 2026.  We will continue to engage with you to inform the plan.