Mrs Mary Pitcaithly, Chief Returning Officer

Scottish Independence Referendum 2014

co !al"ir" Council
Municipal #uildings
!$%&IR&
!&1 'RS
24(0)(2014
*ear Mrs Pitcaithly,
Postal Ballot Verification & Opening Process
Can you clarify the correct procedure for the Opening of $ +n,elopes at the postal
,ote opening sessions-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c!"#g$tPb%&feature=youtu.be&app=&es'top
(oncerns
I.,e noticed that you.,e had to ma"e a statement that you /ere happy /ith all 0counts.
1eing conducted in the proper manner( I assume that this /as to ans/er a fairly su1stantial
1ody of opinion that there may ha,e 1een some issues /ith the count( I.m not a1out to add to
that ,ie/, ho/e,er I do ha,e a concern regarding comments made 1y the leader of the
Conser,ati,e Party in 2olyrood, Ms Ruth *a,idson( I.,e attached a lin" to comments she
made on the ##C prior to the 1allot.s close, a fe/ of /hich gi,e me concerns as to the
uniformity of the process(
I attach a partial transcript of her comments3
Ruth *a,idson3 4Weve had people at every sample opening around the country over the
past few weeks while thats been coming in and weve been incredibly encouraged by the
results from that.
5len Camp1ell3 4But is it not the case that postal votes, while theyre verified, are not actually
opened until 10.00 oclock on the night6
Ruth *a,idson3 4!heyre not "#$%!&' until 10.00 oclock on the night, but different local
authorities have openings around the country. (t is illegal to discuss any of that while any
ballot is ongoing so until 10.00 oclock tonight no one can talk about it, but theres people in
the room that have been sampling those ballot boxes as theyve been opened and
theyve been taking tallies and the reports have been very positive for us.
2er comments raise the follo/ing 7uestion3
1( 8hat 4sample openings6 is she referring to- It.s not a slip of the tongue, she refers to
4sampling those ballot bo)es6 later in the piece(
2( 8here /as this 0sampling. carried out9 and /hat /as the e:tent of the sampling- ;I
sa/ no e,idence of this happening in the !al"ir" postal receipt office(<
=( Ms *a,idson then tal"s of 1eing 4encouraged by the results from that. >his /ould
suggest she /as in receipt of information from the postal ,ote opening sessions( Is
that not illegal-
4( Is the /hole electoral process not of a uniform re7uirement- 8hy does Ms *a,idson
refer to 4different local authorities ha,ing openings around the country- Surely all
local authorities are go,erned 1y the re7uirements of the $ct-
'( 2er comment that *people in the room that have been sampling those ballot bo)es
/ould suggest a specific 4sampling6 process ta"ing place( 8hat e:actly /as this9 and
are you satisfied that this acti,ity did not 1reach the rules of the $ct-
?( 2er ne:t comments are perhaps most distur1ing of all( 4theyve been taking tallies,
;part of the 0sampling. process-< and 4the reports have been very positive for us(6
>his is 7uite clearly a 1reach of the $ct /here information pertaining to the ,ote has
1een communicated to another person 1efore the close of the poll( 8hat steps do
you propose to ta"e in see"ing ans/ers to this contra,ention of the $ct-
It is e:tremely important that our electoral procedures are ro1ust and transparent to
ena1le our electorate to ha,e faith in the process( I /ill a/ait your response 1efore
considering /hether to ma"e my concerns "no/n to the +lectoral Commission(
@ours faithfully,
Cllr #rian McCa1e,
Secretary, A$I5
Cc3 Cllr Mei"leBohn, SAP 5roup %eader