Voting opens in Scottish Parliament election
There are eight candidates vying for votes in Shetland, with the result due to be announced tomorrow
POLLING stations across Shetland are now open for the Scottish Parliament election.
The polls are open from 7am to 10pm today (Thursday) as Shetland votes for its new MSP.
The votes will be counted at the Clickimin in Lerwick tomorrow (Friday), with a declaration expected in the afternoon. Shetland News will report live from the election count from the morning onwards.
People get two votes – one for their constituency (Shetland) and another for their region (Highlands and Islands).
The regional element uses a different voting system and aims to give parties who win less constituency seats a greater chance of securing regional MSPs.
As of 6 May the electorate in Shetland was 17,979.
There are 34 polling places in Shetland, with the smallest being Uyeasound in Unst (85 voters) and the largest in Lerwick.
The largest polling station outside of Lerwick is the Scalloway Hall, with 808 in-person voters.
The most northerly polling station is North Unst Public Hall in Haroldswick, while the outer isles are mainly postal voters.
Ballot boxes from the islands will be transported by ferry to the Shetland mainland.
A total of 4,024 postal votes have been issued to Shetland residents.
Around 44 staff will be involved in the counting of votes and the audit of ballot papers, stewarding duties and administration and audit of the verification and results figures.
The full list of confirmed Shetland candidates in alphabetical order, are as follows: Alex Armitage (Greens), Douglas Barnett (Conservatives), Vic Currie (Reform UK), John Erskine (Labour), Hannah Mary Goodlad (SNP), Emma Macdonald (Liberal Democrats), Brian Nugent (Alliance to Liberate Scotland), Peter Tait (independent).
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