Scottish Parliamentary elections take place every 5 years. The next election will be held in 2026.
Within the Scottish Parliament there are 129 elected members (MSPs) - 73 Constituency Members and 56 Regional Members.
Elections to the Scottish Parliament are carried out using the Additional Member Voting system. This voting system combines the traditional First Past the Post system (FPP) and Proportional Representation (PR).
Voters have 2 votes in these elections.
The first vote is to elect a person to be their Constituency Member. The person who wins the most votes using the FPP voting system becomes the Constituency Member.
The second vote is to elect Regional representatives. Voters can select a political party or an individual candidate (if there are any standing) for a seat in a Scottish Parliament Region.
There are 7 MSPs for each of the 8 Scottish Parliament Regions. Candidates or parties are elected using a PR voting system and are called 'List' MSPs.