Polling opened on Thursday morning for voters to cast their ballot in the Scottish Parliament election 2026 at one of 132 polling places.
Voters can use one of the 1,555 pencils which the council has provided for them to place their X in the relevant boxes.
Voters may go to a polling station in Scotland until 10pm on Thursday evening – and if there is a queue then as long as people have already joined a queue by 10pm they will be able to vote. There are 387,335 voters registered in the capital with 132 polling places to choose from which have 933 polling booths.
To find your polling place and more information on voting there is a dedicated page on the council website.
Assistance to vote
Under new legislation the council must provide assistance to people with disabilities who must be able to cast their vote without facing barriers. They should be able to vote on their own and in secret. The Elections Act 2022 introduces changes to further assist voters at polling stations.
There is information on accessibility at polling stations here.
For deaf voters there are audio ballot papers here.
For voters with sight loss there is guidance in a leaflet produced by the Electoral Commission.
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Open in new tab Emergency Proxy Votes
If you cannot get to a polling place then you might be able to still vote if you apply for an emergency proxy vote, by 5pm. This would allow someone else to vote on your behalf.
There is no legal requirement to produce ID at the polling station when voting, although we have seen some voters clutching their passports as they entered polling stations on Thursday morning.
The votes cast at the last Scottish Parliament election resulted in a voter turnout of 64.2%.
There are 41 candidates standing in the six constituencies in Edinburgh – and 11 of those are standing in Edinburgh Central.
But Edinburgh and Lothians East has the longest list with 18 parties and 4 independent candidates to vote for on the peach ballot paper.
In the wider region – made up of Edinburgh’s six constituencies together with Midlothian North, East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs, and Edinburgh Eastern, Musselburgh and Tranent, some 564,571 people are registered to vote, with 450,099 voting in a polling place and 114,472 postal voters.
The votes in Edinburgh will be counted at The Royal Highland Centre at Ingliston on Friday where 13 new MSPs will be announced. Six will be constituency MSPs and seven will represent the Edinburgh and Lothians East Region. Some 1,100 people will be working at the count.
