The Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) Order 2007

Publication of statement of persons and parties nominated for return as regional members

20.—(1) The regional returning officer shall prepare and publish a statement showing–

(a) each registered party which has been and stands nominated together with that party’s regional list;

(b) the persons who have been and stand nominated as individual candidates for return as a regional member;

(c) any other persons or parties who have been nominated together with the reason why they no longer stand nominated.

(2) The statement shall show the registered parties which have been and stand nominated in alphabetical order with the name or description of the party as given in that list and the names and home addresses of the candidates who appear on the regional list of each party as given in that list and arranged in the order in which their names appear on that list.

(3) The statement shall also show the names, and addresses of the persons nominated as individual candidates as given in their individual nomination papers, with the description as “Independent” if that is requested in those papers.

(4) If a regional list or an individual candidate’s nomination paper gives a person’s commonly used surname or forename in addition to another name–

(a) the statement shall show the person’s commonly used surname or forename (as the case may be) instead of any other name;

(b) but sub-paragraph (a) does not apply if the regional returning officer thinks–

(i) that the use of the person’s commonly used name may be likely to mislead or confuse electors, or

(ii) that the commonly used name is obscene or offensive;

(c) if sub-paragraph (b) applies, the regional returning officer must give notice in writing to the candidate for his reasons for refusing to allow the use of a commonly used name.

(5) The statement shall show the names, addresses and descriptions of the persons standing nominated as individual candidates after the names or descriptions of the registered parties standing nominated and the names of those individual candidates shall be arranged alphabetically in the order of their surnames and, if there are two or more of them with the same surname, of their other names.

(6) In the case of a person nominated by more than one individual nomination paper, the regional returning officer shall take the particulars required by the foregoing provisions of this paragraph from such one of the papers as the candidate (or the regional returning officer in default of the candidate) may select.

(7) In the case of a registered political party which has delivered more than one regional list for a particular region (and which stands nominated by more than one of those lists), the regional returning officer shall take the particulars required by the foregoing provisions of this rule from such one of the lists as the nominating officer of that party (or the regional returning officer in default of that officer) may select; and if any candidate is shown standing nominated by a list not so selected but is not so shown in the selected list, he shall no longer stand nominated.

(8) The regional returning officer shall send a copy of the statement to the Electoral Commission.

(9) The regional returning officer may, if he thinks fit, at any time before the publication under this rule of the statement of persons and parties nominated, correct minor errors in a nomination paper, including–

(a) errors as to a person’s electoral number;

(b) obvious errors of spelling in relation to the details of a candidate or party.

(10) Anything done by a regional returning officer in pursuance of paragraph (9) must not be questioned in any proceedings other than proceedings on an election petition.