Council say ‘no’ to same day vote

Perth and Kinross Council has urged the Scottish Government not to hold local elections on the same day as national votes.

Responding to the Scottish Government’s consultation on electoral reform, the local authority has said it did not believe holding elections on the same day was beneficial for voters who could be left confused as to what they are actually voting for.

Councillors approved a response to the Scottish Government’s consultation on electoral reform at a meeting of the full council on Wednesday.

When asked if the length of a council term should be four or five years, Perth and Kinross has said: “The council considers that the term lengths should be set so as to avoid clashes between elections to the UK Parliament, the Scottish Parliament or local councils.

“Whilst it might be seen that holding elections on the same day has the potential to increase voter turnout, equally there is the potential for voter confusion given the different voting systems.”

The council will also tell the Scottish Government that it could support two and five member council wards.

The response agreed by councillors states:“The council believes that local government electoral arrangements should reflect local demographics to ensure that electors are represented on a equitable basis and would support a change in the number of councillors in a ward if that better reflected importance of local communities in determining boundaries.”

In all, the council responded to 25 questions ranging from the role of the returning officer to the order that candidates names appear on the ballot paper.