Scottish Government

SUMMARY OF MAIN FINDINGS

• There is some evidence to suggest that turnout of voters was higher than it would have been if the scheme had not applied. However, the use of the postal-only ballot appears to have two conflicting impacts. For a significant minority who were apprehensive about the method, it appears to have somewhat depressed their normal tendency to vote. On the other hand, there does also appear to be a small proportion of the electorate who tend not to vote in other elections, but did cast their vote in the by-election, perhaps because it was a postal ballot.
• As a group, opponents of postal-only ballots were more likely to say they 'always' vote in General, Scottish and European Parliament elections, but they were less likely to have voted in the Colinton by-election. The most common reasons electors gave for not voting were that they forgot, were too busy, or were uninterested.
• There appears to be a small core of non-voters for whom the mechanism for casting their votes makes no difference to how likely they are to vote. Thus, although, postal voting may increase turnout, there is likely to be a minority that will not be swayed by any changes in the voting method.
• The materials sent to electors with their ballot papers were overwhelmingly recorded as the most common source of helpful information on how to cast their vote, cited by 76% of those aware of the by-election, with the efforts of the political parties and candidates mentioned by just 9%, and the media by 2%.
• The simplified procedure and the low number of ballot papers rejected, when considered alongside the high turnout, would suggest that an all postal poll provided a system which was straightforward and easy for voters to understand.
• While half of respondents felt that voting by post was open to fraud or abuse, no evidence was found to suggest that the pilot scheme actually resulted in an increase in personation or other malpractice. The post-election integrity check carried out by the Council was specifically designed as an additional security test. However, some level of concern does persist among the electorate and party workers that an all postal system is potentially less secure. This perception will require to be addressed if all postal polls are to be more widely used.
• The all postal process was considerably more expensive than a by-election carried out using conventional arrangements. It may be, however, that there would be some economies of scale were all postal elections to become more widely used.
• Around nine in ten (86%) voters said their overall experience of casting their vote in the by-election was ' good', including 61% who said it was very good. On the other hand, 7% said their experience was ' poor', including 4% who said it was very poor. Nearly all of those who said their experience was poor were also opposed to the use of postal-only ballots in future elections, a group comprising 5% of the electorate in Colinton.