{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/scottish-local-government-elections-amendment-order-2026/note",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/scottish-local-government-elections-amendment-order-2026/note.json",
  "legislation": "ssi/2026/254",
  "legislation_title": "The Scottish Local Government Elections Amendment Order 2026",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/scottish-local-government-elections-amendment-order-2026",
  "path": "note",
  "kind": "note",
  "number": null,
  "heading": "Explanatory note",
  "text": "(This note is not part of the Order)\nThis Order amends the Scottish Local Government Elections Order 2011 (“the 2011 Order”).\nArticle 3 amends rule 4 of the Scottish local government elections rules (set out in schedule 1 of the 2011 Order) to require candidates who have not requested publication of their home address, and candidates who have requested publication of their home address but whose home address is outside Scotland, to provide a correspondence address in Scotland in their nomination paper. That address will be used and published only if the candidate becomes their own election agent by default.\nArticle 4 amends rule 14 of the Scottish local government elections rules to require that on the ballot paper the candidate’s surname appears first, followed by their forename, and that the candidate’s surname and forename are separated by a comma.\nArticle 5 amends rule 24 of the Scottish local government elections rules to make clear returning officers may add such information as they consider appropriate on polling cards.\nArticle 6 amends rule 25 of the Scottish local government elections rules to substitute the existing requirement that returning officers provide a specified device to allow blind and partially sighted voters to vote without assistance, with a duty to provide such equipment as is reasonable to enable (or make it easier for) disabled voters, including those who are blind or partially sighted, to vote independently in the manner directed by rule 33 (including in relation to voting secretly). It also requires the Electoral Commission to produce guidance on this duty, and requires returning officers to have regard to that guidance in fulling the duty to provide equipment to assist disabled voters.\nArticle 7 updates forms 2 and 4 in the 2011 Order. Form 2 is changed in consequence of the change to local government candidacy rights by section 2 of the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025. Form 4 is changed due to the introduction of a standard format in which candidates’ names must appear on ballot papers by article 3.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2026/254/note",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-28T20:29:09.610530+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}