By Steve Bargeton, political editor

MORE SCOTS would have voted in the Holyrood elections in the spring if they had been able to send a text message.

A survey by the Electoral Commission published yesterday found that large numbers of voters could not be bothered to exercise their democratic right at the polling station.

But almost half of those who failed to vote would have done so had they been able to use their mobile phone.

Other reasons why just 49% of the electorate actually voted in May included the Iraq war, the Sars outbreak, disillusionment with the main political parties and the Holyrood building fiasco.

The report showed that voters could identify little difference between the main parties and that the election campaign was viewed as “lacklustre.”

Scotland’s Electoral Commissioner Sir Neil McIntosh said politicians had to re-engage with the public.

“At the end of the day we still have to have a situation where people are interested in politics, the issues and the full agenda,” he said.

“Part of the feedback from the research was that a substantial proportion who did not vote didn’t see enough of a difference between the parties which would motivate them to go out and vote.”

Sir Neil also pointed out that the number of spoilt ballot papers had increased—many left blank by dissatisfied voters.

The commission said that although new ways of voting were being looked at, there was no quick fix.

Chairman Sam Younger stressed any changes to the voting system were a long way off. He said that while the popularity of postal voting was on the increase, the use of hi-tech technology was “at a much, much earlier stage.”

“There is a lot of nervousness at this stage about setting up any E-pilot,” he said.