| CHAPTER 8 |
| ELECTORAL ARRANGEMENTS |
8.1 The Government believe that electoral arrangements for the Scottish Parliament should reflect the will of the Scottish people. A constituency link will be the essential foundation of the new Scottish Parliament. However it is also important to provide for greater proportionality to build stability into the overall settlement. It is therefore proposed that there be a significant number of additional Members elected on a wider and proportional basis, in order to bring a closer relationship between votes cast and seats won. This Chapter sets out who will be able to vote, who will be able to stand, and how the electoral system will work.
Constituencies
8.2 Members will be known as Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). They will be elected in two different ways. The majority will be elected from constituencies which are the same as the constituencies of the Westminster Parliament except that Orkney and Shetland (which at the moment form one constituency) will become 2 separate constituencies thus making 73 in total. The remaining 56 Members - "additional Members" - will be selected from party lists drawn up for each of the current European Parliament constituencies. There will be 7 additional Members from each constituency.
Electorial register
8.3 The electoral register for elections to the Scottish Parliament will be based on residency, and will be the same as for local government elections. This means that Members of the House of Lords resident in Scotland and EC nationals resident in Scotland will be able to vote. Commonwealth citizens and citizens of the Republic of Ireland resident in Scotland will also be included. The register will however exclude overseas electors i.e. those who have taken up residence outside the UK but who have been registered on an electoral register in Scotland at some point during the previous 20 years.
Eligibility to stand
8.4 Those eligible to stand for the Scottish Parliament will be UK citizens, including Peers, Peeresses in their own right, Priests and Ministers of religion. Commonwealth citizens and Republic of Ireland citizens will also be able to stand as will EU citizens resident in the UK. Otherwise, broadly the same disqualifications as for the House of Commons will apply. All will have to be 21 or over.
8.5 The Government are keen to see people with standing in their communities and who represent the widest possible range of interests in Scotland putting themselves forward for election to the Scottish Parliament. In particular the Government attach great importance to equal opportunities for all - including women, members of ethnic minorities and disabled people. The Government urge all political parties offering candidates for election to the Scottish Parliament to have this in mind in their internal candidate selection processes.
Electoral system
8.6 Annex C sets out in more detail how the electoral system will work.
Changes in electorial arrangements
8.7 The integrity of the UK will be strengthened by common UK and Scottish Parliament boundaries. Responsibility for Scottish Parliamentary electoral arrangements and constituencies will be reserved matters; the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for Scotland will continue in being, and future changes in electoral arrangements for the Scottish Parliament will therefore be a matter for the UK Parliament, subject to consultation with the Scottish Parliament. Any changes in Westminister constituencies will result in changes to Scottish Parliamentary constituencies; and may also lead to consequential adjustments to the size of the Scottish Parliament so as to maintain the present balance between constituency and additional Member seats.
8.8 Taken together, the electoral arrangements set out above will secure for Scotland a Parliament built on fairness.