EA Bulletin: 383 Scotland

Following the introduction of new legislation (The Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2025), we have published sample versions of new emergency proxy forms:

• Application to vote by emergency proxy for medical companions at a Scottish Parliament election – this is a new form that allows electors to appoint an emergency proxy if they are accompanying someone receiving medical care or treatment on the date of a poll.    
• Application for an emergency proxy change - this form replaces the Application to change an existing proxy at a Scottish council election form, to cover both Scottish Parliament and council elections in one form.

These are the final copies and have been shared in advance for your awareness and preparation. We will be providing copies to EMS suppliers in March and will also be publishing the voter-facing copies on our website.

You can view the related Guidance for the above forms on our website.

Upcoming forms

We are also working on updating several other forms that are currently going through approval stages. We will share these with you once they have been finalised.  

• ITR No Fixed Address - This form is being updated to include detained mental health patients who have become enfranchised under the Representation of the People Act 1983 Remedial (Scotland) Order 2025. The age for looked after children is also being updated from under 16 to under 21.
• Application to vote by proxy in Scotland based on disability – This form is being updated to allow for detained mental health patients who have become enfranchised under the above 2025 Order to apply to vote by proxy.  
• Application to vote by emergency proxy in Scotland based on disability - This form is being updated to allow for detained mental health patients who have become enfranchised under the above 2025 Order to apply to vote by emergency proxy. 

As part of Welcome to Your Vote Week 2026, we are hosting a presentation to share findings from the second year of the Electoral Commission’s Youth Tracker survey.

The webinar will take place at 11:00am on Tuesday 10 March 2026.

The Youth Tracker is a UK-wide survey of 2,500 young people aged 11–25. It explores young people’s understanding of democracy, their confidence in participating, and how they engage with politics. While the presentation will only include UK data, we will be able to distribute findings which apply only to Scotland.  

The session will highlight how access to political education, family background and information sources shape young people’s engagement with democracy. It will also explore what this means for those supporting democratic participation at a local level, including electoral administrators and partners working with young people.

There will be an opportunity to ask questions during the session.

If you would like to attend, please register here.