Elections Administration

Glasgow City Council administers all local, national and European elections in the city. There are four standard types of elections:

• Local (council)
• Scottish parliamentary (constituency and list)
• Parliamentary (Westminster) and
• European

In addition to these by-elections will be held if a councillor, MP or MSP dies or resigns. Special elections such as referendums are also held occasionally.

The chief executive of Glasgow City Council is the returning officer for all of these elections. The only exception is the European elections which are the responsibility of the regional returning office (currently the chief executive of Edinburgh City Council).

What is the returning officer responsible for?

• the nomination process for candidates and political parties
• provision and notification of polling stations
• appointment of Presiding Officers and polling clerks
• appropriate administration and security of polling stations
• separation of all ballot papers
• the actual count and declaration of results
• issue, receipt and counting of postal ballot papers
• all candidates' election expenses returns
• presentation of final account and
• reclamation of funding from external bodies as prescribed.

Currently, there is an ongoing development of electoral procedures including all-postal voting, e-voting and e-counting. Glasgow expects to be heavily involved in all of these developments.

What is the electoral office?

We have established a full time election office staffed by an election co-ordinator to support the chief executive in all electoral processes including the electoral register, voting procedures, electoral standards and conduct are prescribed by Acts of parliament.

In addition, the election office will provide services to the various stakeholders, including voters, candidates, agents, and political parties.

Our staff support election services as required, and it is normal practice to enlist temporary support services by non-council staff to perform polling and counting duties. Information on future requirements will be published locally and made available on this website.