HOLYROOD elections in May may not be "safe, accessible or fair", a trade union has told the Scottish Government.
Unison, which has the largest local government membership in the country, says its "serious concerns" over the conduct of May's Scottish Parliament elections also apply to local by-elections due to take place over the coming weeks.
It has written to Local Government Secretary Aileen Campbell questioning the legitimacy of the contest and the result as well as the safety of workers involved.
The organisation says many public buildings lack the space for the social distancing that may still be required in May, with further fears over sanitisation.
It wants risk assessments to be carried out and a commitment that running the poll won't leave councils with extra Covid costs.
The letter to Campbell states that Unison has not seen risk assessment guidance that was "due to be issued to local authorities 'in January 2021'" and that any change to the usual polling places as a result of Covid "could create confusion for voters about where they would go to cast their vote and, potentially, have a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable in our communities" and even voter turnout by requiring people to travel further from home.
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It goes on: "We are concerned that queues outside of polling stations, required to limit the number of electors at any one time to maintain social distancing, could deter voters from voting.
"We are additionally concerned that any switch to all-postal ballots has the potential to disenfranchise a significant proportion of the electorate who may not be able to get a postal vote application in on time."
Contingency legislation setting out alternative options for the running of the election was recently passed by MSPs.
Earlier this month the First Minister said other countries had been able to carry out safe elections during the pandemic, telling the BBC: "I see no reason at this stage why the election wouldn’t go ahead.
"I think everybody would agree it’s really important that our democratic processes continue and that elections happen.
"There have been elections in many other countries over the course of the pandemic."
Today Johanna Baxter, Unison Scotland’s head of local government, said: "The pandemic continues to present significant health and safety risks and we are concerned that it will be impossible to mitigate against all of these risks if in-person voting proceeds on May 6 as planned."
She went on: "Many polling and counting stations have already been re-purposed as vaccination centres rendering them unavailable for use. All of this will require significant additional resources for local authorities, and all have the potential to impact voter turnout."
The Scottish Parliament declined to comment. The Scottish Government said: "The safety of staff, voters, candidates and campaigners during this year’s Scottish Parliament election is absolutely paramount.
"The Scottish Budget, announced yesterday, includes £34.9 million to support Returning Officers in the safe running of the poll on May 6.
"This includes an extra £14m compared to the 2016 election for the expected increase in costs of postal voting and enhanced hygiene and physical distancing measures at polling stations and count centres."
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