POSTPONING the Scottish Parliament elections due to coronavirus could risk confidence in democracy, experts have warned.
While concerns have been raised over the impact of new surge in Covid-19 on the Holyrood vote going ahead, academics who carried out a major report into the issue for the British Academy pointed out a number of countries have successfully held ballots during the pandemic.
Scots are due to go to the polls on May 6 – the same date as the next election for the Welsh Parliament and for rescheduled local and mayoral elections in England.
The vote is on course to be one of the most important in Scotland’s history, with the SNP aiming to secure a majority and a mandate to hold indyref2. The latest poll, published last month, predicted the party will gain eight seats at Holyrood, with support for independence at 58%.
Dr Alistair Clark, reader in politics at Newcastle University, said he believed the election had to go ahead, pointing out the term of the Scottish Parliament had already been extended before the pandemic from four to five years.
“If we get much beyond five years I think we are starting to be a bit of an outlier and given that other countries have managed to successfully hold elections during the pandemic then I think we start to look odd if we start postponing things,” he said.
“You can start to ask questions about really how much of a democracy we are – I think that applies more to England at the moment, but these questions could arise here as well.”
He added: “I don’t envy the policy-makers in any field at the moment, not least around elections, as there are difficult decisions to be made.
“But democracy and elections are such a fundamental part of who we are that I think we need to find ways of holding the elections – quite simply, Covid-19 is not going away.
“Parties, candidates, administrators are going to need to find ways of holding elections.
“We are in a good place on this in Scotland at the moment, as planning has been ongoing since mid-last year for this.”
Clark pointed to the example of England, where local elections were postponed for a full year in May despite the Electoral Commission suggesting they be held in the autumn.
He said: “With reflection that would have been far better. There are people now who don’t have representation – for example, where councillors have died.”
Last week it was reported some opposition MSPs are sceptical the Holyrood election can go ahead due to issues over campaigning in the midst of the new strain of the virus.
However, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she could see “no reason at this stage” why it could not proceed. She added any changes to the timing or arrangements around the election would have to be done on a “genuinely collaborative and cross-party basis”.
Sarah Birch, professor of Political Science at King’s College London, said campaigning was already being carried out now in a different way than a generation ago, when it was mainly face-to-face.
She said: “I imagine parties will have to further adapt the way they contact people – I expect there will be a lot more done by telephone as there is a limit to how much you can genuinely communicate with someone by sending them a tweet or a Facebook post.”
Birch said the elections had been postponed in England last year for good reasons at the height of the first wave of the pandemic.
But she added: “If we are not in that situation, I would think there would be a risk to public confidence declining if the elections were postponed.
“Unless there is some massive resurgence and unless the virus hasn’t been got under control at that point, there is probably more risk to postponing the election than there would be with going ahead with the election.”
The Electoral Commission says the elections are currently planned to go ahead in May and preparations allowed for a “range of restrictions”.
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