THE Scottish Greens admitted today that a “software error” had affected the party’s controversial selection of candidates for next year’s Holyrood elections.

Maggie Chapman, seen as being on the left of the party, now faces an uphill battle to win another term in the Scottish Parliament after coming second on the Green list for the North East region.

Patrick Harvie, who is soon to step down as co-leader, narrowly retained his place at the top of the Glasgow regional list, after a strong challenge from Ellie Gomersall, amid disquiet about the Greens’ power-sharing deal with the SNP, which collapsed in acrimony last year.

Alarm bells were sounded over the process itself when internal elections officer Kate Joester quit over an “anomaly” in the results.

A Scottish Greens spokesperson admitted: “Following concerns raised by members who had reviewed the voting data, party officials sought advice from the third-party provider on Monday afternoon.

“The party was assured that the counting had been completed and confirmed to meet the standards requested under our internal party rules.

“During further investigation by the third-party provider, they later discovered a software error in an external programme used to count votes.”

While some candidates further down the lists were affected, the spokesperson confirmed: “All of the previously announced 15 lead candidates remain duly selected and will continue to lead the party’s campaign to elect a record number of MSPs.

“We understand that this has been a stressful process for candidates and members and we thank them for their vigilance, patience and trust.”

Simon Thomson, director of Mi-Voice, whose system was used in the ballot, said: “We understand the frustration and confusion and we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and concern it has caused.”