A new report into the Scottish elections fiasco has said there are lessons to be learnt for the whole of the
Following major problems with May's Scottish Parliament and local polls, the Electoral Commission has come up with a number of recommendations to avoid a repeat of the situation.
Canadian elections expert Ron Gould was tasked by the commission with finding solutions to the problems that arose from holding the elections at the same time and other complications.
The report recommended that future Scottish Parliament and local elections are separated, "preferably" by a period of about two years.
"Fragmented and antiquated" election legislation should undergo a radical overhaul, and there should be a six-month cut-off period for new legislation before an election, it said.
The wider application of the recommendations for elections in
"The commission's view is that the current arrangements for electoral administration across the
"It is now time for a wide-ranging examination of electoral administration to be held encompassing the recommendations of the Gould report; the applicability of these recommendations to other parts of the
The report went on: "It is our view that this matter is urgent and must proceed immediately."
Gould's report criticised politicians and said voters were treated as an "afterthought" in the planning and organisation of the May 3 elections.
Election night descended into chaos as more than 100,000 ballot papers were rejected before the SNP were eventually declared winners around 20 hours after the polls closed.
Voters had used a new design of Holyrood voting paper and a new method of voting in council elections - both of which were also counted electronically for the first time in
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd