The Scottish Ministers have issued the Representation of the People (Absent Voting at Local Government Elections) (Scotland) Amendment (No. 2) Regulations 2026, a corrective Scottish statutory instrument made on 16 September 2026 and laid before the Scottish Parliament on 18 September 2026. The instrument states on its face that it has been made because of a defect in S.S.I. 2026/251 and is being supplied free of charge to all known recipients of that earlier text. Made under sections 33 and 61(2) of the Local Electoral Administration and Registration Services (Scotland) Act 2006, the regulations are signed by Jamie Hepburn on behalf of the Scottish Ministers and come into force on 13 November 2026. Their function is narrow but important: they repair a missing procedural rule in Scotland’s local election absent voting regime.
The amendment changes regulation 11 of the Representation of the People (Absent Voting at Local Government Elections) (Scotland) Regulations 2007. A new paragraph is inserted after regulation 11(4)(c) to cover applications made on the ground set out in regulation 10(5G), where the applicant became aware of that ground only after 5 p.m. on the sixth day before the poll. According to the explanatory note, that new paragraph sets a closing date of 5 p.m. on polling day for a proxy vote application where the voter cannot attend in person because they will be accompanying another person to receive medical care or treatment. The change is technical, but it determines whether a late application can lawfully be accepted.
The explanatory note links the No. 2 regulations directly to the Representation of the People (Absent Voting at Local Government Elections) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2026, S.S.I. 2026/251. That earlier instrument, the note says, inserted regulation 10(5G) and set out the additional information that must be provided in this category of application. Read together, the effect of the two instruments is clear. S.S.I. 2026/251 created the relevant ground and information requirements, while S.S.I. 2026/263 now adds the corresponding closing date in regulation 11. For electoral law practitioners, that alignment matters because a new application ground is incomplete unless the timetable for using it is also stated.
The commencement provisions add an important qualification. Regulation 1 states that the No. 2 regulations come into force on 13 November 2026, but it also provides that they have no effect for any election where the date of poll is on or before 5 May 2027. That means the amendment is not intended to operate for every poll taking place after the commencement date. On the face of the instrument, elections within scope that are held on or before 5 May 2027 are excluded, so the revised deadline is aimed at later polls rather than immediate use across the board.
For voters, the number of cases affected is likely to be small, but the scenario is specific and potentially significant. The provision is directed at a person who only becomes aware, after the usual late stage in the timetable, that they will need to accompany someone else for medical care or treatment and therefore cannot vote in person. For electoral administrators, the amendment provides a clear statutory route for dealing with that situation up to 5 p.m. on polling day. That should reduce uncertainty for electoral registration officers, returning officers and local authority teams when processing last-minute proxy applications in circumstances that can be urgent and difficult.
The broader administrative lesson is that electoral law often depends on closely matched drafting across several provisions. Application grounds, supporting information requirements and closing dates must all fit together if the rules are to be applied consistently and explained clearly to voters. Scottish local authorities and election teams updating guidance for future polls will need to read S.S.I. 2026/251 and S.S.I. 2026/263 side by side. Based on the published text and explanatory note, the No. 2 regulations do not create a broad new class of absent voting entitlement; they correct the timetable so that an already-created medical-care proxy ground can operate as intended.