Inquiry into Scottish Vote Welcomed

Published: Friday, May 4th 2007

High STV ballot acceptance a welcome antidote to Scottish Parliament count problems

The Electoral Reform Society has welcomed the Electoral Commission’s review into the conduct of the Scottish elections, announced this afternoon.

Dr Ken Ritchie said:

“The voters of Scotland deserve a thorough inquiry and subsequent, well-thought through action to ensure that Thursday night's problems don't happen again.  We certainly welcome this inquiry.”

“We are not seeking to apportion blame. We are looking to move on.  Early findings from the STV counts in local elections show this election is not all about voter confusion and spoilt papers: the new system has bucked the trend, with a fifth the number of spoiled ballots compared to the parliamentary election. 

“Scottish politics is moving on” added Dr Ritchie, “and this vote has laid the foundation for that change.”


Notes to Editors
•    Details of the forthcoming enquiry are available here: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/
•    Early evidence suggests that ballot spoilage in the local council STV elections is averaging at 2%. In parts of inner city Glasgow – which has well documented issues with voter engagement – there was only evidence of a 4% peak in spoilt STV ballots.  
•    Provisional figures indicate the national figure for ballot spoilage for Scottish parliamentary ballots is around 10% of all votes cast.

Contacts
1.    For further information about the election results contact Ken Ritchie, Chief Executive, Electoral Reform Society (07754165551) or Amy Rodger, Campaign Director, Electoral Reform Society Scotland (07960869018)
2.    For further comment, please contact the London Office on 020 7928 1622, or Havard Hughes,  Campaign Director, London (07989 345 820)