Commentary on provisions of Act Section 4: Power to make provision about elections
This section substitutes new sections 12 and 12A of the Scotland Act 1998 ("the 1998 Act").
	Section 12
	The executive functions given to the Scottish Ministers under the new section 12(1) include those functions relating to Scottish Parliamentary elections in respect of which the Scottish Ministers already had executive competence by virtue of section 12 of the 1998 Act as amended by section 1 of the Scotland Act 2012 (the conduct of Scottish Parliamentary elections, and the questioning of such elections and the consequences of irregularities). The Scottish Ministers exercised these powers in the Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) Order 2015 (S.S.I. 2015/425). The new section 12(1) also includes those functions previously exercised by the Secretary of State under section 12A(1) of the 1998 Act as amended by section 1 of the Scotland Act 2012 (the return of members of the Scottish Parliament otherwise than at an election). Subsection (1) of new section 12 of the 1998 Act provides that the powers of the Scottish Ministers under section 12 are aligned with the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament.
	Subsection (2) of new section 12 of the 1998 Act clarifies the scope of the order-making power provided by subsection (1) and makes clear that it enables provision to be made:
for the registration of electors;
for disregarding alterations in a register of electors;
about limits of the election expenses of individual candidates;
for the combination of polls;
to modify the operation of section 7(1) of the 1998 Act , which provides for the return of constituency members to be determined before the process of allocating regional members can proceed, where a poll at a constituency election is abandoned (or notice of it is countermanded) so that special provision can be made enabling the regional members to be returned even though not all of the constituency members have been returned; and
to modify the effect of section 8(7) of the 1998 Act to ensure that the correct number of seats are allocated.
	Subsection (3) of new section 12 makes it clear that subsection (1)(c) will enable sections 10(4) to 10(5A) of the 1998 Act, which relate to the procedure for replacing regional MSPs who stood on a regional party list, to be modified.
	Subsection (4) of new section 12 supplements and elaborates on the scope of subsection (1) and gives the Scottish Ministers powers relating to the application and modification of electoral law.
	Subsection (4)(a) of new section 12 enables the established statutory procedures for elections to be applied, subject to any necessary alterations.
	Subsection (4)(b) of new section 12 enables consequential modification of any legislative provision relating to the registration of Scottish Parliamentary or local government electors In Scotland.
	Subsection (5) of new section 12 provides that the return of a member at an election to the Scottish Parliament may be questioned only under Part 3(legal proceedings) of the Representation of the People Act 1983, as applied and modified by an order under subsection (1).
	Subsection (6) of new section 12 enables the Scottish Ministers to make orders as regards the designation of regional returning officers.
	Section 12A
	Subsections (1) to (3) of new section 12A give the Secretary of State the power to make regulations in order to combine the polls at certain Scottish Parliamentary elections with the polls at certain UK Parliamentary and European Parliamentary elections.
	Subsection (4) of new section 12A provides that the Secretary of State must obtain the agreement of the Scottish Ministers before any making such regulations.
	Subsection (5) of new section 12A supplements and elaborates on the scope of subsection (1) and gives the Secretary of State powers relating to the application and modification of electoral law.
	Subsection (5)(a) of new section 12A enables the established statutory procedures for elections to be applied, subject to any necessary alterations.
	Subsection (5)(b) of new section 12A provides that regulations made under subsection (1), may amend forms contained in, or in regulations or rules made under, the Representation of the People Acts to enable such forms to be used for elections to the Scottish Parliament as well as for their original purpose.
	Subsection (2) of section 4 inserts new subsection (5C) into section 15 of the Representation of the People Act 1985, requiring the Secretary of State to consult the Scottish Ministers before making combination rules under section 15(5), where one of the elections is a local government election in Scotland.