Opponents have cried foul over the SNP's tactic of telling voters that their first choice on the ballot paper in May is about who should be First Minister of Scotland.
The Electoral Commission said the SNP was wrong but said it had no plans to launch an investigation into the claim, made in a television broadcast and in mailshots by the party.
Action had been called for by Scottish Socialist Party leader Colin Fox, who accused the SNP of deliberately misleading voters.
The Nationalists' first political broadcast of the election campaign claimed the first vote on the ballot paper was to choose the First Minister.
Mr Fox called this a "downright lie" as the column decides which MSPs are elected through the regional list.
An Electoral Commission spokeswoman said: "It is incorrect to say the regional vote is for the First Minister. The way the system works is the regional vote elects seven MSPs for the region and the constituency vote elects one MSP for the constituency."
He added: "We have spoken to the party and we've made our views known to them. They have said that their broadcast is their interpretation of the impact that voting SNP in the regional vote will have."
An SNP spokesman said: "The first vote will decide the balance of MSPs in the new Parliament and this will determine who becomes First Minister.
"That's why we are urging voters to use their first vote to ensure Alex Salmond becomes First Minister."
The regional list selection comes first on the new ballot paper, with the traditional vote for a local constituency candidate coming on the right of the new paper.
Some have moved to exploit this - as in the case of the Greens being quick to employ the phrase "first vote Green"
- but bigger, established parties have also moved to colonise this regional vote because it cost them dear four years ago.
The Nationalists have utilised a mixture of the new voting form and the fact that each party is now able to register several descriptions of itself to promote the idea of "Alex Salmond for First Minister".
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