SNP members should be able to edit vote - leader candidate Ash Regan

One of the candidates in the SNP leadership contest says party members should be able to "edit" their vote before the poll closes next week.

Ash Regan believes that those who had "buyer's remorse" after voting should be allowed to change it via the online system.

Her suggestion comes in the wake of turmoil over the voting system.

The SNP's interim chief executive later said such a move would be "massively disruptive and confusing" for members.

Mike Russell took on the role from Nicola Sturgeon's husband, Peter Murrell, who resigned on Saturday over misleading statements to the media about membership figures.

Ms Regan is running against Health Secretary Humza Yousaf and Finance Secretary Kate Forbes with the winner due to be announced on 27 March.

Voting has been open for a week now but Mr Russell said an editing option was not something that was done in any public election and could pose a cyber security risk.

In response, Ms Regan's team said it was now up to SNP members to raise the issue with the party and demand the ability to edit their votes "if that is what they would like to do".

Online system

Earlier Ms Regan said a number of party members had asked for the contest to be re-run but she acknowledged that might not be possible.

She told BBC Scotland: "Members should be able to edit their vote.

"So, for those people who feel that they have buyer's remorse now and they would like to change their vote - and I am not saying that that will be everyone. So, if you have cast your vote and you are quite happy with your vote you don't have to do anything.

"But if you have cast your vote and you want to change it you can go into the online system and edit it."

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Mr Russell said there was no need to re-run the ballot, despite concerns that some party members would have cast their vote before events of the last few days.

Mr Murrell's resignation came a day after Murray Foote quit as the SNP's head of media at Holyrood.

Mr Foote had described press reports about falling SNP membership as "drivel", before the party confirmed a big drop in numbers to 72,000.

Mr Murrell took responsibility for the misleading information on the figures.

Now Mr Russell, who was previously SNP chief executive for five years prior to Mr Murrell, said he was brought in to "steady the ship".

He told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland a "whole host of things" had gone wrong, but his focus was on getting to the end of the leadership contest "in much better form".

Later on Monday he said he was wanted to ensure there was "confidence in the integrity of the current process".

In a statement, Mr Russell added: "On the specific issues raised today, it would clearly be massively disruptive and confusing for members to be able to recall their ballot - something that is not done in any public election and which cyber security experts have advised, most recently to the Conservatives when they considered an online ability to change a vote, could be subject to hacking attempts."

Peter Murrell is married to outgoing leader Nicola Sturgeon

Ms Regan said she had suggested two proposals that would "provide assurance to members" over the election process.

The first would be to allow SNP members who have already voted to change their vote, if desired.

The second proposal would be to allow candidates to email SNP members, using the party mailing system, with an updated election message that reflected "current events".

But Mr Russell later said such a proposal was not within the rules and added the candidates' views on all internal and external issues related to the contest had been widely shared during the leadership campaign.

Ms Regan said: "It is important that all parties respect the outcome of the ballot and give full support to the new leader of the SNP."

Mr Yousaf poured cold water on Ms Regan's suggestion that members should be allowed to change their vote.

"I don't think in the last seven days of this contest, we need to be reopening ballots or changing the process," he told the BBC.

The health secretary also said that as far as he could see, all three candidates now had "no issues with the integrity of the ballot, and will respect the outcome".

"I think what the people of Scotland want us to do in the last seven days is to talk about the policies that matter to them," he added.

'Internal reform'

Mr Russell said he did not know how many SNP members had voted so far, and was "assured" that no-one in the party had access to those figures.

He said he would not bring in outside auditors to oversee the ballot process.

Mr Russell added that whoever succeeds Ms Sturgeon would have to focus on reforming the SNP's operations.

Kate Forbes told the BBC she was "very confident" in the party's ability to complete the leadership process, despite previously calling - along with Ms Regan - for an independent third party auditor.

She said that while she had trust in the process, she was "very conscious other people didn't".

Ms Forbes added: "I strongly believe that the events over the last few days - which have of course hurt, and I think bemused, a lot of SNP members - have confirmed my calls from the very beginning of the contest, which is that we need change in the SNP, and we need change in government."

Mr Yousaf has also promised an internal shake-up of the party, telling the BBC: "There needs to be internal reform within our headquarters, of that there is simply no doubt."

Who are the SNP candidates?

• Kate Forbes: The finance secretary who found herself at the centre of a storm over her views on gay marriage

• Ash Regan: The minister who quit over Scotland's gender reforms and now wants to unite the independence movement

• Humza Yousaf: The 'continuity candidate' with the backing of the SNP leadership