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Scottish Youth Parliament 2023 elections – Update from Young Scot

Update 15/11/23: The Scottish Youth Parliament Election 2023 has now been paused. The information below is no longer current.

We are aware of an issue with votes cast for this year’s Scottish Youth Parliament election using a mobile phone on our voting.young.scot website. Votes cast using a desktop computer or a laptop are not affected.

If you are voting on voting.young.scot, please use a desktop or laptop. 

If you are a young person who’s already cast a vote using your mobile phone – please re-cast your vote using a desktop computer or a laptop. 

Every vote is registered with an individual Young Scot National Entitlement Card or temporary card number, so you can check by logging into voting.young.scot.

If you have questions regarding this year's Scottish Youth Parliament election vote - please take a look at our FAQs below.

Young Scot is dedicated to ensuring that young people can exercise their right to vote in Scottish Youth Parliament elections. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

FAQ:

Young Scot is the proud partner of the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) and over many years we have collaborated and used our voting website to deliver the vote for SYP elections.

A week into the 2023 election, we were informed by our digital supplier that votes cast using a mobile phone were not being recorded. Votes made using a desktop computer or a laptop are not affected. 

In response, we are now encouraging all young people who’ve already cast their vote using a mobile phone to re-cast their vote using a desktop computer or laptop.

I would like to thank SYP and Local Authority partners, who’ve been working proactively with us to minimise the disruption. Most importantly, I want to apologise  to MSYP candidates and young voters for any disruption caused.

Young Scot is dedicated to ensuring that young people can exercise their right to vote in SYP elections

Kirsten Urquhart, Chief Executive, Young Scot

SYP has been made aware by Young Scot of a technical issue on its voting platform that means SYP Election votes cast on a mobile phone were not being recorded. SYP is working closely with Young Scot to investigate how this has happened and working with our Local Authority partners to limit the impact on candidates and young people.

We are encouraging all young people who have voted using a mobile phone to re-cast their voice using a desktop computer or laptop. I would encourage any young people in Scotland to use their vote and have their say.

Jamie Dunlop, Chief Executive, Scottish Youth Parliament