How to vote

Ways to vote

There are three ways to cast your vote.

1. In person – going to the polling station to vote on polling day.
2. By post – your council will send you a posting voting pack so you can complete your ballot paper at home and return it in the post.
3. By proxy – when you can’t go to the polling station yourself so you ask a trusted person to vote on your behalf.

If you want to vote in person you should receive a card with voting information at the address where you are registered. You don’t need the card to vote. To check that you are registered in Edinburgh and Lothian contact:

Electoral Registration Officer
Lothian Valuation Joint Board
17A South Gyle Crescent
Edinburgh EH12 9FL
Email: enquiries@lothian-vjb.gov.uk

To apply for a postal vote, download the form for Scottish Parliament and council elections. You need to print the form, fill it in, and send it off by post in obtain your postal vote.

To apply for a proxy vote, download and fill in one of the vote by proxy forms from www.gov.uk, and return it to the address above.

Deadlines

To vote in the Scottish Parliament election on 7th May 2026, you must register by 20th April.

If you want a postal vote or proxy vote, you must be registered first, then apply for these. Postal vote applications must be received by 21st April, and proxy vote applications must be received by 28th.

Who can vote?

The rules are different, depending on the election.

Scottish elections

Anyone age 16 and over living in Scotland can vote in Scottish Parliament elections and council elections. This includes citizens of other countries who live here. Students can register from their term-time address, and also remain registered at their home address.

You just need to register to vote (see link above). You can register to vote from the age of 14, although you don’t get to vote until you are 16.

You don’t need ID to vote in Scottish elections.

UK General Elections

For UK-wide Parliamentary elections (General Elections) the rules are different. You can only vote if you are 18 or over and are British, Irish or a qualifying Commonwealth citizen, resident in the UK.

You need an accepted photo ID to vote in UK General Elections.

Some example accepted photo IDs are: a passport, drivers licence, National Entitlement Card – you can find the full list here.

If you don’t have one of these forms of ID you can apply for a voter authority certificate.