SNP Want Control Of Poll

Mar 16 2008 By Mark Aitken

THE Scottish Government will demand separate Holyrood and council elections after last year's poll fiasco.

Alex Salmond also wants to take contol of elections away from Westminster.

The SNP demands are a response to an inquiry into the shambles that led to 146,000 votes being rejected in last year's elections and will be revealed in full this week.

International elections expert Ron Gould investigated last May's shambles and said voters were treated as an "afterthought".

Parliament minister Bruce Crawford said last night: "The Gould Report demonstrated that the Scottish electoral system is fragmented and antiquated, with no clear lines of accountability for its management or to the people of Scotland.

"We believe that the key step would be for the further devolution of executive and legislative powers to the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament for the conduct of its own elections."