Scottish election 2021: When will poll results be known and how long will the wait be?

Scots will not know the full outcome of the Scottish election on May 6 until two days later.

The Electoral Commission have confirmed results will take longer this year due to less staff able to work to accommodate physical distancing.

Now just a third of results are expected to be declared the following day, with most not until May 8.

There will also be no overnight counting and warnings have been issued the usual number of media at the counts could be limited.

Results could take up to two days to come through for the Scottish election on May 6

Instead, each team will tweet the official result the moment as soon as possible using the hashtag #SPE21RESULT.

The timetable comes from a provisional list of counts and declarations published by the Electoral Management Board for Scotland.

Matters are complicated further by many of the marginals not due to be counted until the Saturday, meaning Scotland may not know for days if the SNP manages a majority.

Seats due to be counted on Saturday include Tory-held Dumfriesshire, Aberdeenshire West, and Galloway & West Dumfries, Caithness, and Sutherland and Ross.

The emergence of Alex Salmond’s Alba party has also made the result more difficult to predict.

Previously, the longest wait for Holyrood result was the day after polling in 2007, following issues with the electronic counting machines.

According to a spreadsheet compiled by the Electoral Management Board, a total of 44 constituencies will be declared on Friday and 29 declared on the Saturday.

The latest exclusive poll from Savanta ComRes for The Scotsman suggests the SNP will miss out on a majority by two seats and will be reliant on the Scottish Greens to pass major legislation and the budget.

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