It does not necessarily require a two-thirds majority to precipitate an extraordinary general election, because under the Scotland Act Parliament is also dissolved if it fails to nominate one of its members to be First Minister within certain time limits, irrespective of whether at the beginning or in the middle of a parliamentary term.

This process could also be triggered if the First Minister lost a vote of confidence by a simple majority (i.e. more than 50%), as they must then resign (Scotland Act 1998 s45(2)).

The First Periodical Review of the Scottish Parliament's constituencies and regions by the Boundary Commission for Scotland, was announced on 3 July 2007.

The Scottish Parliament uses an additional member system (AMS), designed to produce approximate proportional representation for each region.

The Boundary Commission also recommended changes to the electoral regions used to elect "list" members of the Scottish Parliament,[6] which were also implemented in 2011.

The Second Periodic Review of constituency and regional boundaries began in September 2022 and is due to be completed by May 2025, with the view of being used in the next election in 2026.

The Scottish Greens do not have any constituencies where they require a swing of less than 5% (having gained their current seats from the regional list vote).