Glasgow has until midnight on Monday 20 April to register for the Scottish Parliament election. With no photo ID required and expanded eligibility for 16-17 year olds, ensure you’re ready to have your say and help shape our local Citizens Agenda.

*by Mikael Phillips | Image from 2024 General Election count by Samar Jamal*

With only one week to go until the voter registration deadline for the Scottish Parliament election on 7 May, anyone who wants to vote must make sure they are registered in time.

The deadline to register to vote is midnight on Monday 20 April, and if you haven’t yet registered to vote, you can apply online at glasgow.gov.uk/registertovote. It takes around 5 minutes to register. You can also register by post at gov.uk.

Once registered, voters have a range of options – they can vote in person, by post, or by appointing someone they trust to vote on their behalf, known as a proxy vote. Voters in Scotland will not need to show photo ID to vote in this election. It’s also possible to vote anonymously if you are concerned about your details being added to the electorial register.

William McFarlane Electoral Registration Officer for Glasgow, said:

“Don’t lose your chance to have your say at the Scottish Parliament election in May. Scottish Parliament elections are an important opportunity to have your say on who represents you and makes decisions about issues that directly affect day-to-day life here in Glasgow.

“If you’re in doubt about whether you need to register to vote or have questions about how to apply for a postal or proxy vote, you can contact our Electoral Registration Office on 0141 287 4444, Monday to Friday 10am until 3pm.”

Niki Nixon, Director of Communications at the Electoral Commission, said:

“It’s important that people check they’re ready to vote ahead of the upcoming Scottish Parliament election on 7 May. All voters must be registered, and some may need to apply for a postal or proxy vote. 16-17 year olds and New Scots living in Scotland are also eligible to vote at this election, and photo ID will not be required.”

Important dates:

The deadline to register to vote is midnight on 20 April.
The deadline to apply for a postal vote is 5pm on 21 April.
The deadline to apply for a proxy vote is 5pm on 28 April.

Have your say - Help us build a Citizens Agenda

Tired of politicians and political parties talking about the issues and topics they deem important enough to get coverage? Or the mainstream media always focusing on the same three issues? Feel like the issues that matter to you, or impact your community the most, are being ignored?

We are too. That’s why we’re building a Citizens Agenda.

We carried out the same exercise in the run up to the general election last year as well as ahead of the March local by-election.

The aim is to get candidates standing to represent Govanhill to directly answer to the concerns of our readers – instead of setting their own agenda.

The aim is to give you the information you need to cast your vote confidently. Take five minutes of your time and tell us what you want to know.

What happens after I fill out the survey?

The rest is up to us. The survey will remain open for some time to allow as many people as possible in the community to contribute, so it is a fair and accurate representation of the diversity of opinion locally.

We’ll collate the feedback and calculate which topics and questions appear the most. Using that data we’ll put together a set of questions to put to every political candidate and party ahead of the election in May.

All their responses to our questions will be published in our voter guides online, and then it’s up to you. With all the information at your disposal, you’ll geFill out the surveyt to compare your beliefs with the candidates’ before casting your vote.

We want to changeFill out the survey the power dynamic so that candidates answer to citizens on the subjects that really matter to them.

Fill out the survey: https://community.greatergovanhill.com/crowdnewsroom/citizens-agenda-2026

Sign up to our newsletter: https://community.greatergovanhill.com/join

And stay informed this election!