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| Nominations close in Scottish councils vote | Nominations close in Scottish councils vote |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| Nominations close today for May's council elections - the first since devolution to be held separately from the election to the Scottish Parliament. | Nominations close today for May's council elections - the first since devolution to be held separately from the election to the Scottish Parliament. |
| All 1,223 councillors at Scotland's 32 local authorities will be elected on 3 May. | |
| A system of proportional representation allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. | A system of proportional representation allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. |
| Each voter will be represented by three or four councillors. | Each voter will be represented by three or four councillors. |
| The last time the council elections were not held on the same day as another major election was in 1995. | The last time the council elections were not held on the same day as another major election was in 1995. |
| More people voted in council elections because they were held on the same day as the Holyrood poll - but some claimed local issues and council matters were often overshadowed by Scottish national politics. | More people voted in council elections because they were held on the same day as the Holyrood poll - but some claimed local issues and council matters were often overshadowed by Scottish national politics. |
| The two votes have been "decoupled" to help reduce the chances of a repeat of the chaos at the 2007 count when 140,000 Holyrood ballot papers were rejected. | The two votes have been "decoupled" to help reduce the chances of a repeat of the chaos at the 2007 count when 140,000 Holyrood ballot papers were rejected. |
| However some councillors fear the turnout this year could be very low. | However some councillors fear the turnout this year could be very low. |