The Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) Order 2015

Proxies at Scottish parliamentary elections S

10.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this article, any person is capable of being appointed proxy to vote for another (in this article and article 11 referred to as “the elector”) at any Scottish parliamentary election and may vote in pursuance of the appointment.

(2) The elector cannot have more than one person at a time appointed as proxy to vote for the elector at a Scottish parliamentary election.

(3) A person is not capable of being appointed to vote, or of voting, as proxy at a Scottish parliamentary election—

(a) unless the ERO is satisfied that the person is or will be registered in the register of electors, or

(b) if that person is subject to any legal incapacity (age apart) to vote at that election as an elector.

(4) A person is not capable of voting as proxy at a Scottish parliamentary election unless on the date of the poll that person has attained the age of 16.

[F1 (4A) A person is not capable of voting as proxy at a Scottish parliamentary election if on the date of the election the person is a person to whom section 3(1A) of the 1983 Act (exception to disenfranchisement for offenders sentenced to term not exceeding 12 months) applies.]

(5) A person is not entitled to vote as proxy in any constituency at the same Scottish parliamentary election on behalf of more than two electors of whom that person is not the spouse, civil partner, parent, grandparent, brother, sister, child or grandchild.

(6) Where the elector applies to the ERO for the appointment of a proxy to vote for the elector at Scottish parliamentary elections (whether for an indefinite period or for a particular period specified in the elector’s application), the ERO shall make the appointment if the application is signed by the applicant and meets the requirements set out in Schedule 3 (which makes provision in connection with absent voting) and the ERO is satisfied that the elector is or will be—

(a) registered in the register of electors; and

(b) shown in the record kept under article 8 (absent vote at Scottish parliamentary elections for an indefinite or a particular period) as voting by proxy at such elections,

and that the proxy is capable of being, and willing to be, appointed to vote as proxy at such elections.

(7) Where the elector applies to the ERO for the appointment of a proxy to vote for the elector at a particular Scottish parliamentary election, the ERO shall make the appointment if the application is signed by the applicant and meets the requirements set out in Schedule 3 and the ERO is satisfied that the elector is or will be—

(a) registered in the register of electors for that election; and

(b) entitled to vote by proxy at that election by virtue of an application under article 9 (absent vote at a particular Scottish parliamentary election),

and that the proxy is capable of being, and willing to be, appointed.

(8) The appointment of a proxy under this article is to be made by means of a proxy paper issued by the ERO.

(9) The appointment may be cancelled by the elector by giving notice to the ERO, and shall also cease to be in force, where the appointment related to a Scottish parliamentary election or Scottish parliamentary elections, on the issue of a proxy paper appointing a different person to vote for the elector at a Scottish parliamentary election or Scottish parliamentary elections (whether in the same Scottish parliamentary constituency or elsewhere); and where the appointment was for a particular period, the appointment shall cease to be in force once that period expires.

(10) Subject to paragraph (9), the appointment shall remain in force—

(a) in the case of an appointment for a particular election, for that election; and

(b) in any other case, while the elector is shown as voting by proxy in the record kept under article 8 in pursuance of the same application under that article.

(11) Paragraph 12 of Schedule 3 (cancellation of proxy appointment) provides for the steps to be taken where a proxy’s appointment is cancelled or ceases to be in force under paragraph (9) or is no longer in force under paragraph (10)(b).

(12) The ERO may dispense with the requirement under paragraph (6) or (7) for the applicant to provide a signature if the ERO is satisfied that the applicant is unable—

(a) to provide a signature because of any disability the applicant has;

(b) to provide a signature because the applicant is unable to read or write; or

(c) to sign in a consistent and distinctive way because of any such disability or inability.

Textual Amendments

F1 Art. 10(4A) inserted (2.4.2020) by Scottish Elections (Franchise and Representation) Act 2020 (asp 6), s. 12(1), sch. para. 2(4)

Commencement Information

I1 Art. 10 in force at 16.12.2015 in accordance with art. 1(1)