European elections in Scotland: How and when to vote and a full list of candidates

The elections no-one thought would happen are due to take place today with voters across Scotland gearing up to vote in the European Elections.

Voters will vote in the European Elections on Thursday (Photo: Shutterstock)

Despite the UK voting to leave the European Union in 2016, 73 members of the European parliament, the directly elected body of the EU, will be voted in today with results expected on Sunday 26 May.

Here is everything you need to know about the elections, including a full list of candidates for Scotland.

How do I vote?

Provided you are registered to vote (the deadline to register for these elections passed on 7 May), you vote in the same way you would for a general election.

You will be able to cast one vote for a party with the winners calculated using a system called d’Hondt proportional representation using a regional list of candidates for each party.

It works by splitting the total number of votes of the most popular party by the remaining available seats, which often gives smaller parties a chance of gaining a seat.

As it stands in Scotland, there are six MEPs, with the region voting in one UKIP, two Labour, one Conservative and two SNP MEPs in 2014.

Polling stations will open from 7am and close at 10pm on 23 May, with results expected overnight and into the early morning.

The details of where you should vote and which polling station to go to will be on your polling card which you should have received in the post. You do not need your polling card to vote.

Who is standing in Scotland?

In Scotland, the regional list for each party in the European elections is the following.

Change UK: David Macdonald*, Peter Griffiths, Kate Forman, Heather Astbury, Colin McFadyen, Cathy Edgeworth. *Mr Macdonald quit as a candidate and endorsed the Lib Dems but will still appear on the ballot paper.

Scottish Conservatives: Nosheena Mobarik, Iain McGill, Shona Haslam, Iain Whyte, Andrea Gee, Michael Kusnir.

Labour Party: David Martin, Jayne Baxter, Craig Miller, Amy Fraioli, Callum O’Dwyer, Angela Bretherton.

Scottish Liberal Democrats: Sheila Ritchie, Fred Mackintosh, Catriona Bhatia, Vita Zaporozcenko, John Edward, Clive Sneddon.

Scottish Green Party: Maggie Chapman, Lorna Slater, Gillian Mackay, Chas Booth, Mags Hall, Allan Faulds.

Scottish National Party (SNP): Alyn Smith, Christian Allard, Aileen McLeod, Margaret Ferrier, Heather Anderson, Alex Kerr.

The Brexit Party: Louis Stedman-Bruce, Karina Walker, James Ferguson-Hannah, Stuart Waiton, Paul Aitken, Calum Walker.

UK Independence Party (UKIP): Donald Mackay, Janice Mackay, Otto Inglis, Mark Meechan, Roy Hill, Neil Wilson

Independent Candidates: Gordon Edgar, Ken Parke.