THE elections to the Scottish Parliament descended into chaos with counts suspended, tens of thousands of papers rejected - and little idea of an overall winner.

As it was confirmed a full inquiry would be held, it was feared up to 150,000 papers might be affected.

SEE HOW SCOTLAND IS SHAPING UP ON OUR INTERACTIVE ELECTION MAP

Salmond and McConnell set for Holyrood battle JACK McConnell and Alex Salmond will slug it out in the Scottish Parliament after Mr McConnell held on to his constituency and Mr Salmond became an MSP for the second time. The Labour leader comfortably retained his Motherwell and Wishaw seat, while the SNP boss overturned a LibDem majority in Gordon of more than 4000 to win by 2062. advertisement And LibDem boss Nicol Stephen is certain to be heavily involved in coalition talks with them when the dust finally settles after holding on to his Aberdeen South constituency. Mr Salmond will be joined as a first past the post winner by Nicola Sturgeon who made it third time lucky in Govan after beating Labour's Gordon Jackson. Ms Sturgeon said: "This is the first SNP victory in a general election in Glasgow. It will not be the last." Mr McConnell refused to be drawn on whether he would resign sign if the party only won by a narrow margin. He said: "It's far too early to speculate if we win narrowly. We won the debate and we won the campaign. "Ultimately it remains to be seen if we have won enough votes." Despite the First Minister refusing to speculate on the outcome he said he had never been nervous throughout the campaign. He added: "It's been an exhilarating campaign and it has been a campaign that has increased interest in the Scottish Parliament and has increased knowledge of the Scottish Parliament." Mr Salmond said there was a "wind of change" blowing through Scottish politics. Mr Stephen saw his majority slashed from 8016 to 2732 but predicted his party's policies heralded a "bright future" for the country. He claimed: "Our campaign has focused on policies that will make a real difference to people's lives." Tory boss Annabel Goldie has said the Conservatives will not be involved in any coalition.

In Glasgow Shettleston there were more than 2000 rejected papers, while in Airdrie and Shotts the number of spoilt papers outnumbered the Labour majority.

The shambles came on a night the SNP made significant gains, but with almost one-third of the results still to be declared this afternoon, the political map of Scotland remained unclear.

With 93 of the 129 results in, the state of the parties was Labour 36, SNP 34, LibDems 12, Tories 10 and Greens 1.

Critics said a major reason for the shambles was holding elections for the Scottish Parliament and local councils on the same day - using two different voting systems.

On the council ballot forms, voters were asked to number their preferences, while the Parliament votes were marked with a cross.

There were also suggestions that problems with the postal voting system left many people disenfranchised. And there were difficulties with the electronic counting.

The number of spoilt papers was unprecedented. In Glasgow Anniesland, where Bill Butler held the seat for Labour, there were 1736 rejected papers.

Baillieston saw 1850 ruled out, more than 10% of the total number of votes accepted.

And in Govan, where Nicola Sturgeon had a 744 majority, 1220 papers were rejected.

That was also the position in Airdrie and Shotts, where the 1536 spoilt papers was more than Karen Whitefield's majority.

Overall in Glasgow, there were 15,458 papers rejected, around 8% of the total number cast. Other areas with hundreds of rejected papers included Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, 803; Dumfries 1006; Dundee East, 913 and Inverness East, 1249.

The mayhem led to counts being suspended across the country.

Only one result was declared in Edinburgh - at about 6am - before it was abandoned.

Argyll and Bute also called a halt and will start again at 3pm.

And officials also called a halt at Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Eastwood, Livingston and Linlithgow, Perth and Tayside North and Aberdeen.

Opposition parties said the situation was a disaster, but a spokeswoman for the company behind the vote-counting technology described it as a "temporary interruption to one small aspect of the overall process".

However, SNP campaign director Angus Robertson said: "I think what has happened is disastrous for the conduct of elections because it undermines people's confidence in the decision-making process of our democracy and nothing is more precious than that."

Tory leader Annabel Goldie said: "In some seats the number of spoilt ballots has increased tenfold and, on occasion, is greater than the majority of the winning candidate.

"When taken in conjunction with the level of turnout it brings into question the whole democracy of the Scottish Parliament.

"It is unacceptable that tens of thousands of voters have effectively been disenfranchised.

She attacked Labour and the LibDems for not holding the local and Holyrood elections on different days.

Green co-leader Robin Harper said he was "very concerned" about the issue because of the effect it could have on his party's vote.

He said: "It's horrendous, a complete mess. This is a disaster."

Election quotes
We have won the debate. It remains to be seen tonight whether we have won the votes in individual constituencies. - First Minister Jack McConnell, after being returned as Labour MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw in the first result to be declared.	I'm thinking of starting a party-for-spoilt-papers party." - Scottish Senior Citizens and Unity party leader John Swinburne.	There is a wind of change blowing through Scottish politics. - SNP leader Alex Salmond after winning the Gordon constituency.

In some seats the number of spoilt ballots has increased tenfold. It is quite simply unacceptable that tens of thousands of voters have effectively been disenfranchised. - Tory leader Annabel Goldie on the "spoilt ballot" debacle.

It feels great. I am over the moon. I was hopeful I would be elected but I didn't know for sure until I was told how many votes we had. It has been a great night for the SNP - Bashir Ahmad became the first Asian MSP when he topped list in Glasgow

Some have questioned my decision to keep trying in Govan, but perseverance, hard work and a never-say-die spirit has paid off. I will serve the people of Govan to the best of my ability. - Nicola Sturgeon on gaining the closely contested Glasgow seat.

John Swinburne of the Senior Citizens' Unity Party said the situation was "scandalous".

SNP boss Alex Salmond was heavily critical of the postal voting arrangements, describing them as "totally inadequate".

He added that the decision to conduct a Single Transferable Vote election at the same time as a first past the post ballot for the Scottish Parliament was "deeply mistaken".

He said: "Tens of thousands of votes across Scotland have been discounted. That is totally unacceptable in a democratic society."

Liberal Democrat Scottish spokeswoman Jo Swinson said: "You've got voters who have been disenfranchised because they did not get their postal votes in time. And then you've more in each constituency, whose votes have been discounted because of uncertainty."

David Cairns, the Scotland Office Minister in charge of the running of the election, said: "We'll have to wait and see what Returning Officers tell us.

"There is clearly an issue about the number of spoilt ballot papers.

"When Electoral Commission officers start looking at the election they will be asked to focus on the number of spoilt papers."

However, Mr Cairns did not blame the electronic counting machines.

And a spokesman for the returning officer in Glasgow said: "Obviously we have to have this examined fully.

"Early indications show that there is a high number of rejected ballot papers in Glasgow and across the country and this would appear to be a result of voter confusion."

Sonya Anderson, head of elections at DRS, the company behind the vote counting technology, said today: "We are having some known issues with the consolidation of results.

"We are working with those returning officers and our technical teams to get those results as quickly as possible. The e-counting system has not crashed. The system remains secure and robust with all audit information logged. This is a temporary interruption to one small aspect of the process."

Explaining what went wrong she added it was taking longer than anticipated to pull the results together.

A Scotland Office spokesman said: "E-counting has worked well in a number of areas and voters can be reassured that where counts have been completed the results are accurate.

"Obviously, in various places, serious technical failures have arisen, and we share the public's concern about the high number of rejected papers.

"The independent Electoral Commission will undertake a statutory review into the conduct of this election. It is important that they look as a matter of urgency into delays in postal ballots, the high number of spoilt ballot papers, and the performance of the electronic counting machines."

Amid the chaos, there were some spectacular gains and losses.

Alex Salmond was re-elected to Holyrood, this time in Gordon, with a majority of 2062. The SNP also robbed Labour of Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Cunninghame North, Central Fife, Dundee West and Stirling.

But Labour defied expectations in some areas.

Cathie Craigie held on to Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, while Elaine Murray increased her majority over the Tories in Dumfries.

While the SNP snatched Gordon from the Liberal Democrats, Nicol Stephen's party took Dunfermline West from Labour, but then the Tories snatched Roxburgh and Berwickshire from them.

Tommy Sheridan of Solidarity and Rosie Kane of the SSP both lost their Glasgow list seats, and Bashir Ahmad became Scotland's first Asian MSP, after he was elected for the Nationalists on the Glasgow list.