Scotland votes for 129 MSPs in 2026 Holyrood election with a record 4,320,981 on the roll and no overnight count
Polling stations across Scotland opened at 07:00 on May 7 for the 2026 Scottish Parliament election, with a record 4,320,981 people registered to vote and almost a fifth of the electorate having applied for a postal ballot, according to the Electoral Commission. Voters are choosing 129 members of the Scottish Parliament — 73 in constituencies and 56 across eight regional lists — with polling stations closing at 22:00 and no requirement to show photo ID, unlike in England. For the second consecutive Holyrood vote there will be no overnight count: the Electoral Management Board for Scotland said counting will start at 09:00 on Friday, with first declarations expected in the afternoon and the final results from the Highlands and Islands region not due until about 19:00.
Voters across Scotland are casting ballots in the 2026 Scottish Parliament election, with polling stations open from 07:00 to 22:00 on May 7. A record 4,320,981 people are registered to vote, the Electoral Commission said, and almost one in five of the registered electorate had applied for a postal vote and so will have cast their ballot ahead of polling day. Voters in Scotland are not required to show photographic identification, in contrast to elections in England.
The vote chooses 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament. Seventy-three will represent local constituencies; the remaining 56 will be returned from larger regional lists that together cover the whole of Scotland. The total number of seats is unchanged from 2021, but some constituency boundaries have shifted since the previous Holyrood election.
There will be no overnight count for the second consecutive Holyrood election. Counts traditionally began immediately after the close of polls but were deferred in 2021 because of Covid-19 restrictions. Announcing that the 2026 count would also not start until 09:00 on Friday, the Electoral Management Board for Scotland said the measure would reduce costs and increase public engagement. The first results are not expected until Friday afternoon.
Estimated declaration times produced by the Press Association run from Airdrie at 12:00 through Inverness and Nairn and Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch at 18:30. The eight regional results follow, with North East Scotland and Glasgow expected from mid-afternoon and Highlands and Islands the final region to declare at around 19:00. The Press Association cautioned that turnout, recounts, or delays in verifying and counting ballots can move those times.
The BBC said it would carry results on multiple platforms: a dedicated live page on the BBC Scotland news website from 06:00 on Friday, a live results programme on BBC One Scotland and the BBC Scotland channel from 09:30 with an hour-long Reporting Scotland Election Special from 18:30, and a simulcast on BBC Radio Scotland from 10:00 to 13:00 and 13:30 to 18:00.