Covid in Wales: Early voting proposed if Senedd election delayed

Voting in the Senedd elections could take place over two days or longer if the polls are delayed from 6 May.

There are no plans to delay the election, but Senedd members will vote later on law to allow a postponement of up to six months.

The Welsh Government wants to change the law to allow for early voting, which is used in the US and elsewhere.

But the UK government says it will disrupt police and crime commissioner elections being held at the same time.

Welsh ministers say the UK government's view and the coinciding elections means it would be "impossible" to hold early voting on the original election date.

The Welsh Government said it was "clear" the election should take place on 6 May, but the legislation is needed if it is not safe to hold the election at that time, because of Covid.

The amendment, proposed by Local Government minister Julie James, would allow ministers to propose extra polling days.

They would need to be held in the seven days ahead of the new election date. The powers could only be used if the election was delayed, and if it was not held on the same day as the PCC polls.

The UK government has not suggested that its own elections set for the date would be moved, and last week confirmed the PCC polls will go ahead as planned.

It potentially means the Senedd election could be delayed but the PCC elections would continue to be held on the same day.

In 2012, when the first PCC elections took place and when no other national polls were held at the same time, turnout in England and Wales stood at 15.1%.

One Newport polling station saw nobody vote at all.

A spokeswoman for the Welsh Government said: "We strongly support measures to make voting easier, particularly given the circumstances caused by the pandemic and would have favoured putting in place early voting - as happens in many countries across the world - for the Senedd election on 6 May.

"This proved impossible, given the fact that on current plans, the Senedd election and the PCC elections will take place on the same day and the UK government - which is responsible for the PCC elections - opposes early voting.

"The amendment would enable Welsh voters to benefit from the opportunity to cast their ballot on more than one day if the election were to be postponed and was not held concurrently with the PCC elections."

The UK government said it had confirmed that the PCC elections in Wales will go ahead on 6 May.

Its delivery plan said early voting was "unnecessary given voters can already vote early by post, and the additional resources required to staff early polling stations would make the elections harder to deliver given Covid-19 staffing pressures".

"Local authorities are able to contact all clinically extremely vulnerable people in their areas to make them aware of the options to use a proxy or postal vote and they will be supported in their efforts by targeted communications from the Electoral Commission."

The amendment is one of several that will be examined by Members of the Senedd later.

The Welsh Government's emergency legislation would also enable delays for the dissolution of the Welsh Parliament - the date at which the institution formally breaks up.

Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies, said: "Barring any dramatic change in circumstances, I have every confidence that election officials across Wales will also be able to carry out a safe and secure Senedd election, learning from the vast number of elections that have taken place around the globe during the pandemic.

"The Welsh Labour Government should now focus all energy on ensuring the people of Wales are able to have their say on the future of our country on 6 May."

A Plaid Cymru spokeswoman said "urgent clarity" was needed on what is "legally permitted in terms of campaigning activity against each alert level".

She also called for the publication of "pre-dissolution and dissolution period guidance with the requirement for any postponement proposal to be initiated by the First Minister by 7 April at the latest".