David Cameron faces Scottish anger over 2015 election date

David Cameron will today face pressure from the Scottish parliament to reconsider proposals to fix the next UK election for 7 May 2015, because it could cause chaos by clashing with Holyrood elections on the same day. Critics fear the plans by the new coalition government will cause widespread confusion for voters and major logistical problems for parties and returning officers because that date is already fixed, by law for the Scottish parliamentary elections, which use a different voting system. The same problems will hit elections for the Welsh assembly, also due to take place on the same day. The Lib Dems hope the next UK election will be held under a form of proportional representation, the alternative vote system, which is used nowhere else in Britain. The Tories, meanwhile, want to cut the number of MPs, leading to new Westminster boundaries across the UK. With some council byelections also likely, voters will be faced with at least three different ballot papers, a variety of voting systems, different constituency boundaries and parliaments with different legal powers. The proposals were heavily criticised yesterday by the Scottish Green party leader, Patrick Harvie, and the independent MSP Margo MacDonald in Holyrood as it emerged that Cameron will make his first official visit to the Scottish parliament as prime minister today. In May 2007, more than 180,000 votes were rejected because ballot papers were spoilt when Holyrood and council elections were held on the same day with different PR systems. In some seats, there were suspicions this had affected the outcome, leading to some candidates being denied victory. As a result, the full Scottish council election is now held on different days by law, although byelections can still take place on election day. Bruce Crawford, the Scottish National party's minister for parliamentary business, said he had "every sympathy" with the concerns. "I can only hope that, in the rush to what is now a political oxymoron, that they didn't really take a particular examination of what that decision was going to be; and over time we can persuade them to change their mind," he said. MacDonald has written to the Scottish parliament's presiding officer, Alex Fergusson, urging him to formally object about the proposals on Holyrood's behalf. She said it was either "neglect or carelessness" for the new coalition to press ahead without considering the consequences. "It's absolute nonsense, because we've all got different powers and people are already confused about this," she said. "It doesn't fill me with confidence that they've got a handle on what needs to be done to make sure governance is improved." MacDonald is hopeful the issue will be raised directly with Cameron or the new Scottish secretary, Danny Alexander, today. It is understood, however, that Fergusson wants more time to consider the issue before making a decision on whether to support the complaints. The Electoral Commission is also investigating the proposals and is aware of the potential risks, but has refused to comment publicly until the government publishes its draft legislation. Sensitivities about the potential risks are higher in Scotland because of evidence that staging two major elections on the same day with different voting systems confuses voters. A report on the 2007 chaos, written for the Electoral Commission by the elections expert Ron Gould, found that although the majority of voters understood the two systems, there were still 146,000 Scottish parliament ballot papers spoilt and more than 38,000 council ballots spoilt. Gould's report concluded: "Numerous factors ... all indicate to us that voters were overlooked as the most important stakeholders to be considered at every stage of the election. "We obviously recommend that all those with a role in organising future elections consider the voters' interests above all other considerations."