Seòmar agus comataidhean

I call Ross Greer to wind up and to press or seek to withdraw amendment 63.

I am about to call the minister to wind up, so I hope that he can deal with that then. Alternatively, would you like to deal with the issue separately, minister?

There will be a division.

For

Webber, Sue (Lothian) (Con)
Wells, Annie (Glasgow) (Con)

Against

Fitzpatrick, Joe (Dundee City West) (SNP)
Mackay, Rona (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (SNP)

Abstentions

Whitfield, Martin (South Scotland) (Lab)

The result of the division is: For 2, Against 2, Abstentions 1. The vote is tied. My casting vote is against.

Amendment 60 disagreed to.

Section 3 agreed to.

Schedule agreed to.

After section 3

Amendment 61 not moved.

Sections 4 to 6 agreed to.

Section 7—Effect of order: Scottish Parliament

Amendment 10 moved—[Jamie Hepburn]—and agreed to.

Section 7, as amended, agreed to.

Section 8—Effect of order: local government

Amendment 11 moved—[Jamie Hepburn]—and agreed to.

Section 8, as amended, agreed to.

Sections 9 to 11 agreed to.

After section 11

Amendment 62 not moved.

Section 12—Persons holding office: temporary relief from effect of disqualification

Amendments 12 to 19 moved—[Jamie Hepburn]—and agreed to.

Section 12, as amended, agreed to.

After section 12

Amendment 20 moved—[Jamie Hepburn].

Amendments 20A and 20B not moved.

Amendment 20 agreed to.

Sections 13 and 14 agreed to.

Section 15—Third parties capable of giving notification

I invite the minister to press or withdraw amendment 8.

The question is—

That is my enthusiasm [Laughter.].

Amendment 8 agreed to.

Amendment 9 moved—[Jamie Hepburn].

Amendment 9A not moved.

Amendment 9 agreed to.

Amendments 1, 2, 58, 3 and 59 not moved.

Section 3—Scottish disqualification orders

Amendment 60 moved—[Ross Greer].

Minister, do you have any comments?

I call Ross Greer to wind up and to press or withdraw amendment 69.

Thank you, and welcome to today’s proceedings.

Today, the committee is looking at the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Bill at stage 2. I will briefly explain the procedure that we will adopt. Members should have a copy of the bill, the marshalled list and the groupings. For anyone who is observing, I note that those documents are available on the bill’s web page on the Scottish Parliament website.

I will call each amendment individually, in the order in which it appears on the marshalled list, at which point the member who lodged it should either move it or say “Not moved”. If that member does not move the amendment, any other member who is present may do so.

The groupings set out the amendments in the order in which they will be debated. There will be one debate on each group of amendments. In each debate, I will call the member who lodged the first amendment in the group to speak to and move that amendment and to speak to all the other amendments in the group. I will then call other members with amendments in the group to speak to but not to move their amendments and to speak to the other amendments in the group if they so wish. I will then call any other members present who wish to speak in the debate. Members who wish to speak should indicate that by catching my or my clerk’s attention. I will then call the minister, if he has not already spoken in the debate.

Finally, I will call the member who moved the first amendment in the group to wind up and to indicate whether he or she wishes to press the amendment or withdraw it. If the amendment is pressed, I will put the question on the amendment. If a member wishes to withdraw an amendment after it has been moved and debated, I will ask whether any member who is present objects. If there is an objection, I will immediately put the question on the amendment.

Later amendments in a group are not debated again when they are reached. If they are moved, I will put the question on them straight away. If there is a division, only committee members are entitled to vote, and voting is by a show of hands. It is important that members keep their hands raised clearly until the clerk has recorded their names. If there is a tie, I will exercise a casting vote. My policy will be to use my casting vote against any amendment.

The committee is also required to consider and decide on each section, the schedule to the bill and the long title, and I will put the question on each of those provisions at the appropriate time.

I will not open that up for questions but will commence by calling the first grouping of amendments.

Before section 1