Retention of documents by CRO
29.—(1) The CRO shall retain together with the documents specified in rule 68(1) of the Scottish Parliamentary Election Rules—
(a)any packets referred to in paragraphs 12, 13(7), 14(5), 15(2) 20(9) and 27, subject to paragraph 28, endorsing on each packet a description of its contents, the date of the election to which it relates and the name of the constituency or electoral ward for which the election (or elections) was (or were) held;
(b)a completed statement in form V set out in the Appendix on absent voting at the poll, including the number of postal ballot papers issued and returned; and
(c)the list compiled under paragraph 25(4).
(2) Where—
(a)any covering envelopes are received by the CRO after the close of the poll (apart from those delivered in accordance with rule 53(2)(g) of the Scottish Parliamentary Election Rules);
(b)any envelopes addressed to postal voters are returned as undelivered too late to be readdressed; or
(c)any spoilt ballot papers are returned too late to enable other postal ballot papers to be issued,
the CRO shall put them unopened in a separate packet, seal up such packet and endorse and retain it in the manner described in sub-paragraph (1).
(3) Rules 67, 68, 69 and 70(1) of the Scottish Parliamentary Election Rules shall apply to any packet or document retained under this paragraph, but in applying rules 69 and 70 to the list compiled under paragraph 25(4), this list and any extracts from it are to be treated as if they were counted ballot papers.
(4) A copy of the statement referred to in sub-paragraph (1)(b) shall be provided by the CRO to the Scottish Ministers and the Electoral Commission in the period which starts 10 days after the day of the poll and ends 15 days after the day of the poll.