Scottish election 2026: Daytime counting takes the romance out of the Holyrood spectacle
Many of us are going to miss the excitement that an overnight election count promises.
For political anoraks like myself, the overnight election count is a thing of joy.
But time has been called on the all-night counting for next May’s Holyrood election. Instead, to the disappointment of many, the count will take place during the day.
The Electoral Management Board for Scotland says this will reduce costs and increase public engagement.
Malcolm Burr, convener of the board, said this new way of working means staff will be “well rested”, with “quick access to more resources, people and support facilities”.
He said: “Our counts are always accurate, but working in the day removes some risks, reduces costs and lets us declare the results when more people are engaged.”
This is - infuriatingly for me - true. Punters will find it much easier to follow along with the results as they are declared if the count takes place during the day, and anything to get more involvement in the democratic process is a good thing.
But scrapping the overnight count does take some of the romance out of the election. Yes, there will still be the dramatic countdown to the polls closing at 10pm, and we will most likely still get an immediate exit poll, which should hopefully give us a semi-accurate projection.
But then we are expected to all just … go to bed and come back in the morning.
READ MORE: Scottish Election 2026: Overnight vote counts axed for next year's Scottish Parliament election
For journalists there will probably still be an expectation of providing spin and analysis at least for the first few hours after the polls close, so we will still be sitting up late anyway. But some of the other drama that marks polling night will be gone.
One example is the race to see which boxes arrive at the count first, and the contest to see which constituency can be declared first.
This is an exciting part of the election night spectacle that we will miss out on in 2026.
It is not the first time this has happened. The previous Scottish Parliament election in 2021 was counted during the day over 48 hours because of the coronavirus restrictions.
This meant we saw some things you would not normally see. In 2021, Orkney, won by the Lib Dems’ Liam McArthur, was the first result of the day. Normally it would be way further back as staff wait for all the boxes to arrive in Kirkwall on multiple forms of transport.
The final constituency result to be declared in 2021 was Edinburgh Northern and Leith. As a geographically small, urban constituency in the capital, this would normally be way higher up the list in finishing.
Perhaps the biggest fear that many who attend election counts have, though, is the indulgence in food. Overnight counts are an excuse for us all to stuff our faces with sweets, chocolate and Irn-Bru. However, I feel like consuming multiple bags of Haribo on what is essentially a normal working day might not fly (I am still going to do it though).
On balance, having the count during the day is probably a good thing. It is better for the staff counting the votes and for the public who want to know who their new MSPs are as soon as possible. But I am still going to complain about it.
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