Increase in Scottish Electorate

2 May 2014 04:39 PM

A National Statistics Publication for Scotland.

The number of people registered to vote in elections in Scotland continued to rise, according to figures published by National Records of Scotland.

The registered electorates for local councils, the Scottish Parliament, the UK Parliament and the European Parliament all increased to their highest ever levels.

That means, with the exception of 2009, Scottish electorates have risen year on year since 2003.

On 10th March, 2014:

Over 98,000 16 or 17 year olds had been registered to vote in the Independence Referendum. This represents around 80 per cent of the 16 and 17 year olds in Scotland.
4.12 million people were registered to vote in the local government and Scottish Parliament elections – an increase of 57,288 (1.4 per cent) compared to December 1, 2012, and is at the highest level ever recorded. 4.03 million people were registered to vote in UK Parliament elections – an increase of 41,930 (1.1 per cent);
4.04 million people were registered to vote in elections to the European Parliament, an increase of 58,737 (1.5 per cent). On 22nd May 2014, a European Parliamentary election will be held.
The number of EU citizens registered to vote in local government and Scottish Parliament elections rose by 15,059 to 94,122 (19.0 per cent). This is likely to underestimate the total number of EU citizens resident in Scotland, since many may not register.

The deadline for registration to vote in the Independence Referendum is 2nd September 2014.

Notes To Editors

The statistical information is available online at: through the NRS website:http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/ or directly from: http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/theme/electoral-stats/index.htm l
Equivalent statistics for the rest of the UK were published by the Office for National Statistics.
The electoral register is a list of all people who are registered to vote in elections and referendums. The creation and maintenance of the electoral register is the responsibility of local electoral registration offices. There are 15 such offices in Scotland and each maintains the electoral register for its own area. This is generally done by means of an annual canvass and a process of rolling registration. These statistics are derived using the data supplied by the 15 Electoral Registration Officers using the full register published on March 10, 2014.
These statistics are also used by government to inform electoral policy, in the work of the Boundary Commission for Scotland for constituency design, and by political parties and members of the UK and the Scottish Parliament, local government, academics and members of the public with an interest in the political process.