Scottish councils plan general election vote count for next day

Councils across Scotland are debating whether to move the vote counting in the forthcoming general election to the following day instead of the traditional overnight counts.

The Interim Election Management Board (IEMB), which assesses the best ways to conduct elections in Scotland, issued a consultation paper last week discussing the possibility of moving the count. The move comes in reaction to new legislation on postal votes, which councils say will cause the delay in releasing the final results.

Tom Aitchison, Convener of the IEMB, said: “We’re facing the prospect of most Scottish results coming in around two or three hours later, which means the earliest would be around 2am, with most around 4am and some later, and that assumes that everything goes according to plan.

"Any recounts or unforeseen circumstances would push that even further into the early hours or beyond.”

The proposals have been prompted by the increased number of postal votes in recent elections, which take longer to count. This, in conjunction with the new electronic measures that were introduced to alleviate the problems that occurred in Scottish elections in 2007—when thousands of votes were spoiled due to confusion at complicated ballots—means extra time is necessary in order to produce reliable results.

These new electronic measures include checking the identities of postal voters, which has to be completed before a single vote can be counted. This is done by comparing signatures and dates of birth given on the votes with those held on file.

The IEMB has stated that it understands that “there is a real drama about the traditional overnight counts” but maintains “[their] priority has got to be delivering accurate results that the candidates, the media and, most importantly, the public can trust”.

Returning officers in England have already indicated their intention to process the postal votes overnight before beginning counting the following day.