“In a number of wards the Alba vote came in at over 5%, but the instruction from the SNP leadership not to use preferences to support other independence candidates now condemns most Scottish councils to control by unionists."
'Following instructions' in a passive electoral system i.e. carefully policed( MSM + the establishment ) and rigidly culturally 'norm'-alised democratic circus; the castrated charade many engage with every 'duty-bound', infrequent, Voting Day, hoping that ¤massive effort¤ of civic duty will bring about what they have been told to believe by whichever Party.
"All registered electors (British citizens and all other foreign nationals with leave to remain, including refugees) who are aged 16 or over on polling day are entitled to vote in the local elections. A person who has two homes (such as a university student who has a term-time address and lives at home during holidays) can register to vote at both addresses as long as they are not in the same electoral area, and can vote in the local elections for the two different local councils." wikipedia/2022_Scottish_local_elections
.... The turnout, according to the Electoral Management Board for Scotland, was 43.73%.