Video highlights Highland young people’s participation in recent Scottish Parliamentary Election

A video highlighting the great work of local young people’s participation in the recent Scottish Parliamentary Election was presented to Members at yesterday’s meeting of the Education Committee.

Chair of the Education Committee, Cllr John Finlayson said: “This is a fantastic video that shows the involvement of our young people in the election and also encouraging them to be a part of the democratic process going forward.”

Young people from Highland secondary schools and further education settings, employed by the Council, recently played an important role in the successful delivery of the recent Scottish Parliament 2021 election by working as Postal Vote Assistants, COVID-19 marshals in polling places, counting staff and reception staff at count centres.

The Postal Vote Assistants carried out careful verification and sorting of returned postal vote ballots to ensure they were ready to be transported to the relevant area and counted following polling day.  The secrecy and integrity of the ballot was maintained throughout as Postal Vote Assistants, and indeed all election staff employed by Highland Council, sign a secrecy notice prior to commencing work in their role.  The role of the Postal Vote Assistant was concluded once all ballots had been sorted into their constituency and regional areas and boxed, sealed and transported for the count process which this year took place across two days on 7 and 8 May 2021.

In March, in preparation for the Scottish Parliament election, Highland Council made use of the TikTok platform to engage with Highland’s young people in the democratic process and to encourage them to vote in the Scottish Parliament election.  The Council, the first in Scotland to use the platform, enlisted the help of teen-aged Highland Youth Parliament Chairperson Innes Morgan, who curated engaging content and videos for publication.  The content generated a good response from young people and TikTok will continue to serve as an important platform for future elections.

Later this year, Scottish Youth Parliament elections will take place during November and young people aged between 14-25 are encouraged to stand as a MSYP candidate in this elections process.  MSYPs have a crucial role to play in Scottish public life, from representing young people across the country to running impactful campaigns.  In addition, the role gives young people the opportunity to learn new skills, meet other inspiring young people, become a leader, gain confidence and receive excellent training.

Interested parties need to express their interest by 30 June 2021 in order to stand. 

More information can be found on the Scottish Youth Parliament website.