Friday February 6th 2026
Counts for this year's Scottish Parliament elections will be held in neighbouring buildings.
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Marie Sharp
Scottish Parliament election counts will be held in neighbouring buildings in East Lothian after it was split into two new constituency seats.
Voters in East Lothian will go to the polls in one of two constituencies – East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs and Edinburgh Eastern, Musselburgh and Tranent,
And that is not the only change with the counts carried out the day after the election instead of immediately after the polling stations close.
East Lothian Council has confirmed it will hold one constituency count on Friday, May 8, in Meadowmill Sports Centre, in Tranent, while the other will be counted in the adjoining East Lothian Indoor Bowling Club building where the main arena is named after local bowls legend Alex ‘Tattie’ Marshal MBE.
Previously East Lothian was one constituency seat but its biggest town Musselburgh was in a separate constituency called Midlothian North and Musselburgh.
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 two votes in these elections with the first vote to elect a person to be their constituency member.
The second vote is to elect regional representatives. Voters can select a political party or an individual candidate for a seat in a Scottish Parliament region. Each region is given seven ‘list MSPs under the PR system.
The full candidate lists are expected to be announced for each seat on April 2 and voters who have not registered will be able to do so up to Monday, April 20.
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