The SNP will form the next Holyrood government having won 64 seats - just one short of an overall majority
Party leader and first minister Nicola Sturgeon says she wants to see the country through the pandemic and then "give people in Scotland the right to choose their future"
With all results declared, the Scottish Conservatives have secured 31 seats (no change); Scottish Labour 22 (-2); Scottish Greens 8 (+2) and Scottish Lib Dems 4 (-1)
Smaller parties, including former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond's Alba and George Galloway's All for Unity, won nothing
The turnout of 66% is the highest since the parliament was established in 1999
The SNP's Michael Matheson has held Falkirk West with an increased majority of 11,839 over Labour.
The SNP's vote share was down 2.6% and Labour were up the same.
Turnout was up to 62%.
Question from Marian
Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent
The SNP are likely to take the vast majority of constituency seats – but this is not the only way MSPs are elected.
As well as the 73 first past the post contests, there are 56 MSPs elected to eight regions across Scotland. These seats are doled out using a proportional representation system, which aims to “top up” the number of MSPs for parties which have won a lot of votes locally, but fell short of winning actual seats.
It uses a multiplier system which means every seat a party gains locally makes it progressively harder to pick up more - so because the SNP dominates the constituency contests around the country, it is very hard for them to win list seats.
Once the equations have all been worked out, the overall picture is meant to more accurately reflect the way people actually voted. If a party gets 20% of the vote, they should get 20% of the MSPs in parliament – and thus unless a party actually breaks 50% of the vote across Scotland, they will struggle to win a majority.
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The SNP's Jamie Hepburn has held Cumbernauld with an increased majority of 9,841 over Labour in second.
Labour's vote was up 2.6% and the SNP was down 1.5%.
Turnout was hugely up at 65.1%.
The result in Aberdeenshire West, which could be crucial to the SNP's hopes of winning an outright majority, is now expected earlier than previously thought, according to our reporter at the count, Davy Shanks.
As for the Aberdeen City counters, their work is done.
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Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert
The SNP have managed to defend what was their most marginal existing seat, Perthshire South and Kinross-shire.
This means that the possibility of an SNP overall majority is still live.
The BBC's political correspondent Rajdeep Sandhu questions Angus Robertson
Angus Robertson insists he has no idea if he will be given a key job in Nicola Sturgeon's government.
The new MSP for Edinburgh Central says the SNP is gaining seats and he thinks his party has the highest vote that has ever been cast for any political party.
"I am absolutely certain there will be a pro-independence majority in the parliament."
If there is a majority for independence that's the way democracy works, he adds.
Quote MessageIf the people have sent a majority to Scotland's parliament, saying that as we emerge from Covid that there should be an independence referendum, that's exactly what should happen.
Angus Robertson, SNP MSP for Edinburgh Central
Jim Fairlie has won Perthshire South and Kinross-shire for the SNP.
The seat, which was held by Roseanna Cunningham for 22 years, was the SNP's most marginal in 2016.
It was the Scottish Conservatives' top target.
Mr Fairlie increased the SNP majority to 1,848.
Image source, Ms Eva HannaVoters were forced to queue outside some polling stations
Sir John Curtice, Professor of Politics at Strathclyde University, says the turnout in Scotland is heading for a record high for a Scottish Parliament election.
So far it is up by 10 points which, if this continues, should result in turnout of around 66%, not far short of what one would expect from a general election in Scotland.
By way of comparison, this is what the turnout has been for the five different elections going back to the 2014 independence referendum.
Steven Godden
BBC Scotland
Image source, Scottish Liberal DemocratsOne Dunfermline candidate who definitely won’t be coming to today’s count is Aude Boubaker-Calder.
The Lib Dem is 42 weeks pregnant and is in the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy to be induced.
Ms Boubaker-Calder, who had been due to give birth about a week before the election, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I was hoping to be able to be present during the results but our little bundle of joy has decided otherwise and I will need to be induced."
Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert
Whether or not the SNP gets an overall majority now rests on the outcome in just a handful of seats.
The party needs to win Aberdeenshire West where the Conservatives are defending a small majority, but where if it follows the pattern of other marginal seats the Tories may profit from tactical voting.
They then need either to win Galloway, another Tory-held marginal, or to win a list seat in the South of Scotland. Neither of these currently looks probable.
At the same time, the SNP need to pick up a list seat in the Highlands, for which their prospects are somewhat brighter.
Our reporter at the Glasgow count, Aileen Clarke, reports that the city had the largest number of parties on its regional ballot paper - 22 - of anywhere in the country.
No wonder some polling stations needed extra ballot boxes delivered on Thursday to cope with the volume.
Edinburgh had 19 different parties on its own peach-coloured regional list.
Meanwhile, our reporter Katie Hunter is in Motherwell for the Central Scotland count where she says Labour are not as confident as they were about holding on to their four regional seats.
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Kirsten Campbell
BBC Scotland political correspondent
Image source, Getty ImagesEverything in the Scottish Parliament is proportional, even Time for Reflection is distributed among Scotland’s faith groups on a proportional basis.
Winning an overall majority of 65 wouldn’t just give the SNP the votes to pass its budget or legislation without the need for support from another party, it would give it an inbuilt majority on Holyrood’s committees and a bigger share of convenerships. The order and duration of speeches in the chamber is also dictated by a party’s results at the ballot box.
At the other end of the scale five is the magic number. Smaller parties like the Liberal Democrats and the Greens need to have five MSPs to secure membership of the business bureau which agrees Parliament’s daily work schedule. Only parties or groupings of parties with five seats are automatically entitled to debating time at Holyrood, committee memberships or a regular question at FMQs.
Shona Robison has comfortably held on to Dundee City East for the SNP.
Her majority increased to 13,337.
Labour were a distant second, slightly ahead of the Conservatives.
The SNP's Tom Arthur has won the Renfrewshire South seat with an increased majority of 7,106.
Labour in second saw their share of the vote drop by 3.2% and the Tories were also down.
Turnout was up to 65.5%.
Former Scottish Secretary David Mundell
David Mundell accepts the SNP are going to win and he anticipates they will have a majority, as they will pick up some list seats.
The former Conservative Scottish secretary says he expects Nicola Sturgeon to get back to her desk and deal with the Covid crisis and recovery.
Mr Mundell, the MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, adds constitutional issues are reserved and says "we've had a referendum previously that was based on the Edinburgh Agreement".
He argues that the Scottish government is not able to unilaterally hold an independence referendum. He says Nicola Sturgeon has said she won't hold a wildcat referendum, and he hopes she will stick to that.
The SNP's Audrey Nicoll has won the Aberdeen South and North Kincardine seat with a reduced majority.
The Scottish Conservatives in second increased their vote by 4.5% and Labour were down 5.8%.
Ms Nicoll replaces SNP MSP Maureen Watt who stood down at the election.
Turnout was up 10 points at 64.2%.
More evidence today that turnout across the country has increased from the last Scottish Parliament election in 2016.
BBC Scotland's Alasdair Keane reports the turnout in East Kilbride was up 10 percentage points on five years ago.
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Turnout is well above 60% in other parts of the country as well.
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Highland Council has said there is a delay at the Argyll and Bute count following a fire alarm yesterday.
Counting was temporarily halted for a full evacuation of the Mid Argyll sports centre in Lochgilphead.
The full Highlands and Islands regional list result is now not expected until later this evening.
Image source, BBC SportElection 2021: How does Scotland’s voting system work?
As we move into the results on this second day of this unique election, it's time to explain the voting process.
The BBC’s Connor Gillies talks through how 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) are elected through the additional member system.
People across Scotland have cast two votes – one for a constituency MSP, and another for a regional ballot. Today it's the regional or list votes that take centre stage.
Video by Morgan Spence and Louise Andrew
More: A really simple guide to the Scottish Parliament elections
The winners of these contests will be declared after constituency results are known.
There are eight regional areas which will produce 56 MSPs:
For the full list of which results come when, click this link.