SNP leader candidates call for 'robust' audit of vote system

Two of the three candidates vying to be leader of the SNP want an independent auditor to oversee the leadership vote.

Kate Forbes' campaign manager, MSP Michelle Thomson, said concerns had been raised about the integrity of the ballot process.

Ash Regan said an auditor would provide transparency to party members and the public.

The SNP has so far refused to say how many party members will be able to take part in the leadership vote.

That is despite all three candidates in the contest - Ms Forbes, Ms Regan and Health Secretary Humza Yousaf - calling on it to do so.

The SNP's national secretary, Lorna Finn, has written to the candidates to address their concerns about transparency.

She said it was not clear to her what their concerns were, but she was "satisfied as to the integrity of the ballot".

The ballot, she said, is being managed by an independent company, Mi-Voice, which the SNP has used for internal contests since 2013.

"No-one in HQ has access to live data from the ballot or any Mi-Voice systems, and no-one will know the result until it is provided to me by Mi-Voice on 27 March," the national secretary wrote.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told the BBC she also had no doubts about the integrity of the voting system.

SNP president Michael Russell said he has told Ms Finn that he supports publishing the membership figures, but has said he was "disgusted by the abuse directed at SNP staff by individuals who damage our cause and aid our enemies".

The national secretary said she had asked the SNP's executive committee to release the membership figures on Thursday.

The party had previously said it would only make the figure public after the result of the vote is announced on 27 March, but senior SNP sources are understood to be confident publication will be brought forward.

The SNP said its membership had reached 125,000 by 2019, but the Electoral Commission put the figure at 104,000 two years later.

The Mail on Sunday reported that Southampton-based polling firm Mi-Voice, which is overseeing the leadership vote, had been given the names of just 78,000 members by the SNP.

Ms Regan has called for transparency in an open letter, also written on behalf of Ms Forbes, to SNP chief executive officer Peter Murrell - who is the husband of Ms Sturgeon.

Mr Murrell was urged to clarify how many "paid-up" members the party has, and the number of digital and postal voting papers that have been released.

It is widely believed that Mr Yousaf is the preferred candidate of Ms Sturgeon and the wider party hierarchy, with Ms Regan previously claiming that his supporters were being "bussed in" to hustings events by SNP HQ.

Ms Regan told BBC Scotland she would like to see the appointment of an independent election monitor to ensure the vote is fair.

"My concern is that the membership of the SNP and the country need to have full transparency and honesty in the process," she said.

"So the fact that all the teams haven't been given something as simple as the number of members in the SNP is obviously a concern."

Ms Thomson, who is supporting Ms Forbes, said some concerns that had been raised about the ballot were "based on hearsay or are from bad faith actors".

However others had been expressed by longstanding party members, she added.

She said she had written two letters to the party's national secretary but had not yet had a response.

In a statement Ms Thomson said: "There seems to be a perception that the third party company operating the ballot process is a) independent and b) are responsible for the entire process.

"This is not the case - they are simply a company contracted by the SNP to provide services to their client's specification. This is entirely different.

"The SNP themselves remain ultimately accountable and responsible for many of the processes, oversight and ultimate integrity of the ballot."

Ms Thomson said the fact that questions were being asked could only further undermine trust in headquarters.

"This is not a position I wish to see," she said. "We all agree that the party must unify around any newly elected leader.

"I have asked that the SNP appoint a robust, experienced, third-party auditor of both the ballot processes and the eventual tally of the vote. This third party must have full oversight of all membership numbers, data and processes.

"This should be done without delay."

However SNP MP Gavin Newlands dismissed the statement by Ms Thomson, tweeting that he could not believe "this Trumpian nonsense has now hit my own party".

He insisted the vote was being carried out by "a highly regarded and independent third party".

Humza Yousaf's team said they would be happy for the SNP to provide whatever reassurances are required but added that the way in which the ballot is being questioned would be very upsetting for party members.

This leadership contest continues to cause headaches for the SNP.

Nicola Sturgeon's resignation was a blow in the first place.

Many of the first minister's opponents were relieved that a politician who had delivered a string of landslide election victories for her party was leaving the stage.

Plenty of her supporters worried that her departure was an implicit admission that Scottish independence could not be delivered any time soon.

Now the race to succeed Ms Sturgeon is posing further problems.

Divisions on economics and social issues, as well as on tactics and the party's record in government, have been exposed for all to see and for rivals to exploit.

It's also clear that many backers of Kate Forbes and Ash Regan are deeply suspicious about the manner in which the party hierarchy appears to be swinging behind Humza Yousaf.

Their calls for transparency about the election process have already been dismissed on Twitter by one SNP MP, Gavin Newlands, as "Trumpian nonsense" and fake news.

If senior party figures join the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North in rubbishing the concerns of Ms Forbes and Ms Regan, the distrust - and the pain - for the SNP could become even worse.

Ms Sturgeon, who said she expected the party to publish figures on the number of eligible voters on Thursday, told reported she had "100% confidence in the integrity" of the voting system.

Speaking to BBC Scotland, she said: "There's been one specific issue raised by candidates that I think the NEC has been right to look at again.

"Beyond that, as far as I can tell, there are no specific concerns being raised. It's a general concern and I don't think that general concern is justified."

She said candidates to succeed her "should remember that the task is to retain the trust of the Scottish people".

An SNP spokesperson previously told BBC Scotland that the candidates had been told "responsibility for the leadership election does not rest with any member of staff".

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said he did not know how many members the party has, adding: "I quite understand why people would want to know that data at this stage rather than at the end of the process."

Westminster leader Stephen Flynn told BBC Scotland on Tuesday he had "no idea", adding: "I think the last time I heard it was about 100,000."

Earlier in the campaign, the party's national executive committee was at the centre of a row over blocking media access to party hustings events for the leadership contest - a decision that was reversed.

The ballot to find a replacement for Ms Sturgeon, which uses the single transferable vote system, opened on Monday with the winner to be announced on 27 March.