Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025

41 Proposals for registration of electors pilot provision

(1) A registration of electors pilot provision under section 40 may be proposed by—

(a) the Scottish Ministers after consulting—

(i) the Electoral Commission,

(ii) the Electoral Management Board for Scotland, and

(iii) such other persons as they consider appropriate, or

(b) a person mentioned in subsection (2) submitting a proposal to the Scottish Ministers.

(2) The persons are—

(a) the Electoral Management Board for Scotland, if the Board has consulted the Electoral Commission,

(b) a local authority if—

(i) the proposed pilot relates to a register of local government electors in the authority’s area, and

(ii) the authority has consulted—

(A) the Electoral Commission, and

(B) the Electoral Management Board for Scotland,

(c) an electoral registration officer if—

(i) the proposed pilot relates to a register of electors for the local government areas or parts of local government areas included in the area for which the officer acts, and

(ii) the officer has consulted—

(A) the Electoral Commission, and

(B) the Electoral Management Board for Scotland.

(3) A person who may make a proposal under subsection (1)(b) may make the proposal jointly with one or more other persons making a proposal under that subsection.

(4) Any duty to consult a person with whom the person makes a joint proposal does not apply.

(5) Where a pilot is proposed by a person (or persons acting jointly) mentioned in subsection (2) the proposal and the proposed pilot may be approved by the Scottish Ministers either without modification or with such modifications as the Scottish Ministers consider appropriate.

(6) A registration of electors pilot provision may only be made where, in the opinion of the Scottish Ministers or, in the case where a pilot is the subject of a proposal by a person (or persons acting jointly) mentioned in subsection (2), the person or persons who proposed that pilot, that provision is likely to—

(a) facilitate registration by any persons or any particular description of persons, or

(b) encourage more persons, or more persons of a particular description, to register.

(7) The Scottish Ministers—

(a) may, in order to inform their consideration of a proposal submitted to them under subsection (1)(b) and how they might deal with it, consult such persons as they think appropriate,

(b) must, before making any modification in accordance with subsection (5) consult the Electoral Management Board for Scotland and, if the proposal was not submitted by the Board, the person (or persons acting jointly) who submitted the proposal.

(8) In this section and in section 42 “electoral registration officer” means an officer appointed under section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act 1983.