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Just to pursue that, I note that disability organisations have said that the experience of disabled people over a number of elections now has been less favourable than that of other people. Perhaps I can put you on the spot. Will that situation change in May, or will the journey be longer than that? What assistance do you need to shorten the journey to ensure that the experience of disabled people is the same as—or, indeed, better than—that of others?

Is an investigation into how parties or individuals approached the spend taking place or planned? That would seem to be a prerequisite to the discussion that Edward Mountain has raised about raising the spend.

Thank you for putting that on the record.

That challenge also occurs in other jurisdictions that require imprints.

Following on from what you have said, and without naming names, are you confident in the capacity across Scotland? If you were to use a red, amber, green rating, which colour would you choose?

Do you want to take the question away and write back?

I thank all the witnesses who have attended in person and online for their evidence.

As the next item is to be taken in private, I call an end to the public element of the meeting.

I would like to drill down into that slightly. There was an increase in the amount of advertising about the election. You said that there was also a lot of advertising to instil confidence in the voters so that they would come out. If I was to ask you which of those two made the difference, which would you go with? Was it the fact that the advertising gave the voters the confidence to come out, or was it just the advertising that the election was happening? Or was it—and I think that this might be the case—a combination of both?

I welcome Andy O’Neill, Phil Thompson and Louise Edwards from the Electoral Commission Scotland, along with Malcolm Burr and Chris Highcock from the Electoral Management Board for Scotland. Thank you for coming along this morning, whether you are appearing in person or online.

We have quite a tight timescale today, so, when we come to committee members’ questions, we expect answers not from everybody but perhaps just from those who are best able to contribute evidence. Before we start the questioning, I invite Andy O’Neill and Malcolm Burr to give short opening statements.

Two thirds of voters had the view—“criticism” is too strong a word—that the voting process took longer. We heard about the measures that were put in place such as one-way systems, meet-and-greets and single-use pencils. What other options to make polling stations safe were considered but then discounted?