THE most important Scottish Parliament election arguably since devolution take place in 82 days time. In less than 12 weeks polling stations will open across Scotland on May 6 for people to cast their votes. Up to 40% of voters are expected to use postal votes, and they will largely do so weeks earlier when they receive their ballots during April.

For the first time international residents will join domestic, EU and Commonwealth residents in having a democratic say. Regardless where we come from originally we will all have an equal say on the country we live in. At stake is the re-election of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP-led Scottish Government which has been working hard to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, protect the economy to ensure a strong recovery and provide the resources for a fairer, stronger and greener future. The result will also determine whether the future of Scottish democracy is in the hands of Boris Johnson and his UK Government or people in Scotland.

Voters will the choice to elect a pro-independence SNP Government with a manifesto commitment to hold a referendum on Scottish independence when we emerge from the coronavirus pandemic. Voters can also choose other parties who oppose this, allowing the Tories to continue governing Scotland despite not having won an election in Scotland since 1955. It is the people will decide what they want to happen.

According to opinion polls the trends are very clear ahead of the formal start of the Holyrood election campaign: the SNP is in a dominant leading position and the Unionist parties are far behind. The pro-independence Scottish Greens are holding their polling position but newly formed pro-referendum parties aiming to win seats on the regional list vote have negligible support.

This week a poll for The Scotsman by Savanta-ComRes showed that the SNP currently stands at 54%, the Tories are on second place with 23%, Labour are on 16% and the LibDems on 5% in the first constituency vote. On the regional list vote, the SNP stands at 43%, the Tories at 21%, Labour 18%, the Greens 10%, LibDems 6% and others at 2%.

On these polling numbers the SNP would win 71 seats, a gain of eight MSPs, including victory in all but three constituencies in the whole of Scotland while the Greens would win 11 seats on the list, a gain of five seats. The Tories, Labour and LibDems would all lose seats compared to 2016. With an 11-point gap between the constituency and list vote, the SNP could win even more seats if people give both their constituency and regional votes to the SNP.

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Just as in 2011 there is a good chance for the SNP to win additional seats in different regions so long as people don’t split their votes.

As everyone knows, opinion polls are just a snapshot of public opinion in a given time frame and there are no guarantees that final election results will match expectations. For everyone who wants to see a second independence referendum it is clear what we need to do: give both of our votes to the SNP in the Scottish Parliament elections.

Campaigning for Holyrood has been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, but leaflets have been safely delivered for political parties, social media campaigning is well under way and the issues will be well covered in the broadcast and print media in the run-up to polling day. For those of you looking what you can do to help secure an SNP victory there are some very easy first steps: make sure you are registered to vote, apply for a postal vote, encourage others to do the same, display a window sign, add a twibbon to your social media profile and share campaign content on social media. If you want handy links and information on these steps visit www.snp.org/take-action.

For supporters of Scottish independence it is worth reiterating how close we are to reaching our goal. There have now been 21 polls in succession showing a majority in favour of Yes. Support for the SNP is consistently at a record high-level and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is hugely respected by the public. In contrast the No side is divided on their tactics and anti-independence parties have little positive to offer.

However, absolutely nothing should be taken for granted. Now is the time for a laser-like focus on the campaign to win the Scottish Parliament elections. The only hope Boris Johnson has of derailing independence is that Yes supporters take their eyes off the prize. Let’s get the job done. Let’s secure an SNP victory and an independence referendum by using both votes for the SNP.