Scotland updates Holyrood election rules from May 2026
New rules for Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) elections will apply to any poll on or after Thursday 7 May 2026. They cover voter registration for some young people, postal and proxy deadlines, accessibility in polling places, and several campaign rules. We’ve turned the legal language into a plain‑English guide you can use in class or at your kitchen table.
Let’s start with registration. If you are under 21 and you’ve been looked after by a local authority (or were previously looked after), you will be able to register using a ‘declaration of local connection’. This route exists for people who can’t reasonably register at a fixed address; the age limit is being extended from under‑16s to include care‑experienced young people up to their 21st birthday.
What this means for you: if you’re care‑experienced and you move accommodation often, you still have a path onto the register. Your local Electoral Registration Officer (at your council) can advise on the declaration and what details are needed. The Scottish Government says the upper age was set at 21 to include young people who face specific barriers to registering.
Postal voters need to watch the clock. If your postal ballot pack is lost or you spoil it, the last time to get a replacement on polling day will be 5 pm (it used to run until 10 pm). Build this into your plan-ask for help early, or hand‑deliver your postal pack if timings are tight.
There’s a new emergency proxy for people accompanying someone to medical care. If, after 5 pm on the sixth day before polling day, you learn you’ll be taking someone for treatment on the day of the vote, you can apply for an emergency proxy up to 5 pm on polling day. Your application must be signed by someone aged 16+ who knows you and isn’t related to you.
If your chosen proxy suddenly can’t get to the polling station and they don’t have a postal vote, you can switch to a different proxy up to 5 pm on polling day. This makes permanent a COVID‑era flexibility and is designed to stop genuine voters being blocked at the last minute.
If you are eligible to vote but are detained in prison, you can apply for an emergency proxy until 5 pm on polling day, regardless of when you were detained. This removes an earlier restriction tied to the time of detention.
Accessibility is strengthened at polling places. Returning officers must provide whatever equipment is reasonable to enable-or make it easier for-disabled voters, including blind and partially sighted voters, to vote independently and in secret. The Electoral Commission will issue guidance after consulting disability organisations, and returning officers must follow that guidance.
The offence of ‘undue influence’ is updated in modern wording. It remains illegal to pressure or mislead voters-through threats or violence, damage to property or reputation, causing financial loss, applying undue spiritual pressure, intimidation, or deceiving people about how the election is run. Doing this yourself, with others, or through someone acting with your authority remains a corrupt practice.
For campaigners and candidates, the money rules are clearer if a poll is disrupted. If a Holyrood election is postponed by a further proclamation under section 2(5E) of the Scotland Act 1998, spending limits rise by half of the base amount-and increases stack if there’s more than one disruption. Security costs that are reasonably attributable to protecting people or property are recognised. Only help that a candidate or agent directs, authorises or encourages counts as ‘notional’ spending for that campaign, and authorised third parties can now both incur and pay for their own authorised expenses.
Timelines shift slightly. The dissolution period for Holyrood is cut from 28 working days to 20, and a person who has already been declared becomes a ‘candidate’ for spending and reporting rules 27 days before polling day. Officials told MSPs the timetable tweak is about resilience ahead of May 2026.
What this means in practice: if you’re care‑experienced and under 21, you now have a clearer way to get on the electoral register. If you use postal or proxy voting, plan around the new 5 pm cut‑offs. And if you need support at the polling place, expect a broader range of equipment and assistance. Teachers: this is a simple, real‑world lesson on rights and responsibilities to run before May 2026.