Scottish Parliament elections: Holyrood vote in May could help us look beyond Covid – Ian Swanson

UK ministers have signalled the English local elections due on the same day will take place, albeit with extra precautions. And despite her reputation for caution and a willingness to do things differently from the UK government, Nicola Sturgeon is likely to follow suit.

Quizzed previously about a possible postponement, she said she does not see any reason why voting should not go ahead and pointed out many other countries, including the United States, have managed to hold successful elections during the pandemic.

It might seem incongruous that while ministers resist the calls for dates to be set for shops to reopen, families to mix again or holidays abroad to resume, they are ready to say it's all going to be good for people to trek to polling stations to cast their votes on May 6.

But as the First Minister has said, democracy is important. It never looks good when politicians decide to extend their own time in office. And if opposition parties called for a delay they would risk appearing scared of the electorate’s verdict.

There are, of course, occasions when it is legitimate to postpone elections. Both the First and Second World Wars saw elections put off for several years. More recently the 2001 Westminster election was delayed because of foot-and-mouth disease, though only for a month.

And even in the 20-year history of devolution, Scotland has seen delays to both Scottish Parliament and council elections – not because of any emergency but in a bid to avoid clashes between Holyrood, council and Westminster polling days.

In view of the unpredictability of the course of the pandemic, Holyrood has already passed legislation to allow for May’s election to be postponed if necessary and giving ministers powers to spread voting over multiple days or even make it an all-postal election.

Polling by the Electoral Commission found 68 per cent of Scotland’s four million voters may opt for postal votes anyway – nearly four times as many as usual.

And, of course, those choosing to vote in person will find strict Covid precautions in operation. Rules set out for the English elections include screens and sanitiser at the polling stations and voters having to wear masks and bring their own pen or pencil.

And the Edinburgh City Council by-election in Craigentinny/Duddingston ward, which went ahead in November, saw polling stations implementing social distancing, one-way systems and handing out single-use pencils.

Politicians are more concerned about what Covid restrictions mean for campaigning. Under the current lockdown, there could be no door-to-door canvassing or public meetings. Candidates and their supporters would only be able to campaign online or by telephone and send out leaflets by post or using delivery services.

Hopefully at least some of the restrictions will have been relaxed a little by the time the election gets under way after parliament breaks up on March 25. Many more people will have had their vaccination by then.

And with politicians eager to talk about longer-term prospects and “building back better”, an election campaign may even help to inject some hope into the general debate and help everyone to look to a future beyond the pandemic.

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