MEMBERS of the public across East Lothian and the UK will be using the first past the post (FPTP) system when they go to the polls on Thursday, July 4, to vote in the General Election.

Unlike the single transferable vote system used in the East Lothian Council elections, FPTP is a straight race to the line, with voters only allowed to vote for one candidate and the candidate with the most votes winning.

Voters mark an 'x' on their ballot paper next to the candidate they wish to vote for - they must not mark any of the other candidates' boxes or their ballot paper will be spoilt.

This will be the first General Election under new boundary changes which have seen East Lothian split across two separate constituencies.

The bulk of the county is in the Lothian East constituency, but about two-thirds of Musselburgh is now part of the Edinburgh East and Musselburgh constituency.

Voting takes place between 7am and 10pm on Thursday, July 4, with the Lothian East result expected to be declared some time early in the morning, likely by 4am, although this could change depending on how close the result is.

The final UK-wide result is not expected to be known until well into the Friday morning.

This is also the first General Election when it will be necessary to show personal identification at polling stations in order to vote. A full list of acceptable ID can be found here.

The General Election is to elect the UK Government at Westminster, with all 650 seats across Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland up for grabs.

To win a majority, a party would need at least 326 seats.

The last election resulted in the Conservatives winning an 80-seat majority, finishing with 365 seats, while Labour came second with 202 seats.

In Scotland, the SNP won 48 of the 59 seats, enough to see them finish as the third largest party across the UK, well ahead of the fourth-placed Liberal Democrats, who won 11 seats UK-wide.

East Lothian continued its recent trend of switching hands between Labour and the SNP at each General Election since 2010, the SNP's Kenny MacAskill ousting sitting Labour MP Martin Whitfield to win with a majority of 3,886.

The Conservatives' Craig Hoy place third, less than 2,000 votes behind Mr Whitfield.

Unlike in the council elections and the Scottish Parliament elections, 16 and 17-year-olds cannot vote in the General Election - voters must be 18 or over.