Question reference: S5W-13504
- Asked by: Ruth Maguire, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 18 December 2017
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Current status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 19 December 2017
Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish its proposed consultation on possible changes to the electoral system.
Answer
I am pleased to announce the publication today of our Consultation on Electoral Reform.
The 2016-2017 Programme for Government included a commitment to take forward a consultation exercise to find out what electoral reforms Scottish citizens would like to see taken forward in future legislation. The Digital Strategy for Scotland (published in March 2017) also included a commitment to trial electronic voting solutions to increase democratic participation.
The Scottish Government’s consultation paper, published today, is the first step towards these reforms and includes a number of suggestions as to how the newly-devolved electoral powers could be used. The Scottish Government will use the results of this consultation process to develop policy proposals that will be taken forward in future electoral legislation.