MAY'S Holyrood election won’t be postponed due to Covid-19, Scotland’s parliamentary business minister has said, but results are expected later than usual.
The election, due to take place on May 6, has been subject to speculation as to whether it will be able to go ahead due to public health measures, but the Scottish Government insist voters will go to the polls.
Last year, the Scottish Parliament passed legislation allowing the poll to be postponed if necessary due to Covid-19, but Graeme Dey has told MSPs this will likely not be needed.
He said: “It is as a result of the hard work of electoral professionals over the course of the winter that I am confident that the election can go ahead on May 6.
“This is also the view of Malcolm Burr, Convener of the Electoral Management Board.
“One of the steps taken – the Scottish General Election (Coronavirus) Act – was the result of close working between all parties in this Chamber and our electoral community.
“Among its provisions, the Act ensures the ability to postpone the election if required, but I am pleased to say that this does not seem necessary at present.
“It is fundamental for a democracy to hold scheduled elections, provided it is safe to do so.”
While lockdown is still in place, candidates and their agents are able to travel to the constituency in which they are standing, and consideration is being given to whether this may be extended to leaders of political parties.
As with the US election in November, postal vote requests are expected to rise exponentially due to the pandemic, leading Mr Dey to say counting could continue until May 8.
“In relation to the count, it seems inevitable that the results of the election will take longer to arrive,” he said.
“Ensuring physical distancing whilst also allowing the process to be scrutinised means that not all constituencies will be counted simultaneously.
“It is expected that most counting will occur over the Friday and the Saturday following polling day.
“Returning officers will be talking to candidates locally about arrangements and those discussions are important to achieve a shared understanding of what will happen in practice.”
Dey said the convener of the electoral management board has limited the number of electors to each polling station to 800, to allow social distancing to be carried out.
Parties and politicians have raised concerns about how campaigning can be carried out due to ongoing public health measures.
In his statement, the minister said leafleting will be allowed across Scotland from March 15, when outdoor mixing rules are eased.
But parties will have to wait until April 5 for doorstep canvassing to be back on the campaign trail, subject to the stay-at-home order being lifted that day as planned, along with the prevalence of the virus dropping below 50 cases per 100,000 people and daily positivity falling below 5%.
Canvassing will also be suspended in local authorities where prevalence rises above 100 per 100,000.
Other typical campaigning methods, such as physical hustings, driving voters to the polls and street stalls will not be allowed.
Despite a dip in support for Scottish independence, the SNP are still on track to win a majority at the election.
READ MORE: SNP on course to win Holyrood majority despite dip in Yes support, poll shows
In new details from the first poll in 23 not to find Yes in the lead, the SNP are found to be on track to win 67 seats in the upcoming vote.
That would be enough to give the party a slim majority in Holyrood, which houses 129 MSPs. It would only be the second time since devolution that a single party has managed to form a majority government, following on from Alex Salmond’s SNP’s victory in 2011.
If the SNP is unable to win a majority it is likely that Boris Johnson will use the result to refuse to grant a Section 30 for an independence referendum.
However, the Survation poll of 1000 adults in Scotland found that the pro-independence majority in Holyrood would be significant, even if the SNP's were only slight.
It predicted that the Greens are on course for a record number of seats, estimating that the party would return 11 MSPs from the regional lists across the country.
The Tories would see a marked decline in their representation, becoming Holyrood’s third party. The Conservatives were predicted to take 21 seats, three fewer than the 24 for Scottish Labour.
The LibDems would gain one seat if the poll’s predictions played out. This would mean a total of 51 seats were shared by these three Unionist parties, down seven from today.
Professor John Curtice told the Daily Record that the SNP’s prospects are “on a knife-edge”.
He added: “If today’s poll figures were to be replicated in the ballot box, the SNP would emerge with a slim overall majority.
“However, a drop of just two points could see the party fall short. The margin between success and failure is now a very narrow one.”
The SNP’s depute leader Keith Brown said the polling underlined “the importance of both votes SNP at the election so that the Scottish people can determine Scotland’s future”.
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