IF you go down to your polling station, you’re in for a big change. New voting forms and a new voting system will use new-style ballot boxes, and will be counted electronically. That should make only minor changes to the way 129 people become Members of the Scottish Parliament. But the new voting system for 1222 councillors, sitting in Scotland’s 32 councils, means a fundamental change – both to the way you vote, and to local government itself.

The significance of such change risks being lost because of the attention being paid to the battle for control of Holyrood. Although councils can affect local services more directly than anything MSPs do at the foot of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, election-time accountability is not a feature of the combined polling day. Despite criticism of the twin election, the Scottish Executive has insisted on keeping them together, claiming that is the way to maximise turnout.

This follows a deal done four years ago, when Labour conceded to a LibDem coalition demand to introduce a more proportional and fairer system of voting for the council elections. This Single Transferable System (STV) is used elsewhere, including Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The votes being counted through the day on Friday, May 4 will make for unpredictable results. But what is clear is that local government will emerge very different. In 2003, the results gave Labour control of 15 of the councils, while LibDems gained majority control of Inverclyde and the SNP retained its grip on Angus. Independent councillors continued to run the Highlands and Islands.

In the case of Glasgow, Labour won 48% of the vote and 71 out of 79 seats. In North and South Lanarkshire and in East Ayrshire, the share of vote was even higher, though the dominance of the council chambers slightly less so.

The arrival of STV means a handful of councils could remain in Labour majority control, but they would need to secure more than 45% or so of the vote to do so. If it has a good day, the SNP could push its vote up from around 40% in Angus and Renfrewshire to secure similar majorities.

The outcome is expected to see many more Nationalist and Tory councillors, while Labour can expect to lose around 200. Many of those Labour councillors have taken a payment of up to £20,000 in exchange for agreeing not to stand. Smaller parties face a tough obstacle. Labour insisted that STV should be diluted so that wards have either three or four members.

The parties that might have been fourth, fifth or sixth, such as Greens, Socialists and even Labour in parts of rural Scotland, will be lucky not to be squeezed out. Independent candidates face a challenge in fighting across a ward three or four times the size of the one in which they have previously been known.

The first big questions is how voters might behave. They are not used to voting by numbers, while also voting with two Xs for Holyrood. Some fear many spoiled ballot papers, but then, other countries’ voters seem to get their heads around the system.

It carries a risk for parties if they put up too many candidates in a ward. That could split their support and let through rivals. For that reason, parties are putting up only the number of councillors they expect to get elected. Only where parties are confident of strong support are they putting up more than one candidate. An effective party campaign should tell voters in different parts of a ward to place different candidates first. Working the system that way has been effectively managed in Northern Ireland by both Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party.

While voting is on paper, counting will be by 320 scanners linked to computer. The complexity of STV means manual counts could take up to three days to complete, but returning officers hope the £8.5m electronic system will ensure counting is over on May 4. The e-counting system has been deployed in Hong Kong, Bosnia, Oman, and English local councils. While reading sheets at a rate of 8000 per hour, the private company that runs it claims it removes human error. Only 400 counting staff will be required throughout Scotland, checking ballot papers rejected by scanners because they are unclear. Barcodes are used to ensure no form is counted twice.

The biggest change is expected around west central Scotland. Even where Labour can hold majorities in its traditional fiefdoms, those majorities will be small. It also means that many councillors across different parties will be newly-elected and quickly thrust into positions of power and responsibility. There will be coalitions of varying types and political hues. Expect much horse-trading and falling out, until councillors get the hang of the new game.