Absent voting at Scottish Parliament and local government elections: equality impact assessment

Executive summary

The changes made in the SSIs impact on voters in Scottish Parliament and local government elections and on electoral administrators such as Electoral Registration Officers and the regulator for the elections, the Electoral Commission. The policy changes impact on people, and the possibility of a differential impact on some protected characteristic groups is discussed in this impact assessment.

The assessment considered the impact that the changes made in these SSIs are expected to have on the protected characteristics of age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. The potential for a negative differential impact was found in relation to two protected characteristic groups.

This Assessment concludes that while there is in theory a potential negative impact on any person whose signature might change over time - and in particular older, younger and potentially some disabled voters - there is no evidence to suggest this will actually occur in practice. In fact, experience with UK-wide elections in 2024 (where the UK Government made a similar change) suggests that no discernible impact is likely to materialise.

Nevertheless, some mitigation actions in terms of communications to voters are being considered in discussion with the Electoral Commission. This could include material highlighting the potential for problems to arise if a person’s signature has changed and the potential for specifically targeted communications.

This is a one-off policy change intended to assist voters ahead of the 7 May 2026 Scottish Parliament election. Affected voters will now be invited before 31 January 2027 to refresh their signatures and so there will be no further impact from these SSIs after that date. The Scottish Government will continue to engage with electoral administrators on the impacts of these changes. Following the 7 May 2026 election, the Electoral Commission, and other bodies, are expected to report on the election and this will include any problems experienced with absent voting. The Scottish Government will consider these reports alongside other feedback on the election.