Scottish General Election (Coronavirus) Act 2021 Explanatory Notes

Overview of the Act

3.The Act’s purpose is to make arrangements for the ordinary general election for the Scottish Parliament scheduled for 6 May 2021 which are considered necessary to mitigate the public health effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

4.In summary, the Act:

  • brings forward the deadline for postal vote applications and provides for a Ministerial report on uptake of postal voting;

  • gives a power to the Scottish Ministers to make regulations to provide for an all-postal election to be held;

  • makes the pre-election period of dissolution last only one day, in case the Parliament needs to meet to pass emergency legislation to delay the election;

  • allows the Scottish Ministers to make regulations to hold polling over multiple days;

  • makes provision about the first meeting of the new Parliament, the election of a new Presiding Officer and the appointment of a new First Minister;

  • gives a reserve power to the current Presiding Officer to postpone the 2021 election by up to 6 months in certain circumstances; and allows for the same measures as above to apply if the election is postponed.

5.The Act contains 16 sections under 8 italic headings. Commentary on the effect of individual sections follows below.

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