February 5, 2021 11.53 am This story is over 37 months old

Local elections will go ahead despite COVID-19

City, county and PCC elections on May 6
| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Local elections in Lincolnshire and across the county will go ahead as planned on May 6, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the government said.

Council, mayoral and police crime commissioner elections will take place despite previous doubts being raised about whether it was possible to hold the ballots during the pandemic.

There will be an estimated £92 million of government grand funding to local authorities for the elections.

Of this figure, £31 million is an uplift to directly address costs associated with making the elections COVID-19 secure.

Government ministers had previously said local elections in England were under review amid uncertainty about lockdown restrictions.

City of Lincoln Council and police commissioner elections were also postponed last year due to the pandemic.

However, they can go ahead this year and all 70 seats on Lincolnshire County Council, and a third of the seats (11) on City of Lincoln Council, are being contested.

There will be some extra safety measures, including voters being asked to bring their own pen or pencil to mark the ballots.

Masks will also be compulsory in polling stations and there will be divider screens and hand sanitiser. All touch points should be cleaned before and after use.

Rules on proxy voting will also be changed to allow people who need to self-isolate to request an emergency proxy vote up until 5pm on polling day.

Cabinet Office minister Chloe Smith said “democracy should not be cancelled because of COVID”.

See full information about the May 2021 elections here.