NSW Council Elections delayed, vote to take place on December 4 due to Covid outbreak

Fears the Delta strain of Covid would spread in polling booths led a group of Sydney councils to claim they would not fund elections, forcing the State Government to postpone the poll yet again.

Delaying local government elections across NSW halted a grassroots campaign by councillors who were preparing to refuse to pay for elections with fears voters would contract Covid while lining up at polling booths.

On Saturday, Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock revealed the elections — originally scheduled for 2020 and then delayed until September 4 — will now take place on December 4 across the state as the Covid-19 Delta variant takes hold of Greater Sydney.

Ms Hancock said the decision came after “extensive consultation with and advice from the NSW Electoral Commission and NSW Health”.

“Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and current Public Health Orders impacting Greater Sydney, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the Local Government elections until later this year,” Mrs Hancock said.

Minister for Local Government Shelley Hancock. Picture: Christian Gilles / NCA NewsWire

“Following advice from the NSW Electoral Commission and NSW Health, the NSW Government postponed the elections until December 4 to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our communities, voters, polling staff and candidates.”

NewsLocal understands Ms Hancock and the Office of Local Government were under increasing pressure from local mayors and councillors over the decision to continue forward with elections on September 4.

With local government sources revealing a group of councils, including The Hills, Warringah, Parramatta, Cumberland and Blacktown were preparing to refuse to pay for elections as the threat of Delta variant continues to grow.

A campaign was expected to be rolled out on Sunday by councils calling for the Local Government Minister to delay elections.

Last month, NewsLocal revealed a widespread rollout of iVote online polling was to be implemented to allow “vulnerable people” to refrain for lining up at polling booths across the state.

A spokeswoman for the Local Government Minister said iVote will be rolled out in December for council elections, alongside a longer pre-polling period of 13 days to cast their vote.

$57 million worth of funding has been rolled out for the elections to take place this year, including $37 million to deliver them in a Covid-safe way.

Local government elections across NSW will be delayed.

Local Government NSW President Linda Scott called on the government to “commit to holding Covid-safe NSW local government elections before year’s end”.

“Covid-safe local government elections must be held by the end of the year, to uphold democracy and ensure renewal,” Cr Scott said.

“Public health and safety must always come first, but we do not want to reach a situation in which democracy delayed is democracy denied.

“This latest three-month deferral comes on top of an existing deferral of 12 months from September 2020, with no guarantee further delays won’t be incurred.

“Delaying elections further is a risk to democracy.”

The delay comes as dozens of councillors across the state announced they would not contest the upcoming elections.

Councillor Linda Scott, Picture by Damian Shaw

“The need for local government leaders has never been greater, as communities and their local economies struggle with the impact caused by going into, out and back into lockdown again,” she said. “Local governments need energetic, dedicated local leaders as mayors and councillors.

“Regional NSW local governments are particularly eager for safe NSW elections to proceed, with many areas of NSW without a single Covid exposure.

“Why should the rest of NSW have to suffer because of Covid cases in Sydney?”

Candidates can find more information at the Office of Local Government

website at www.olg.nsw.gov.au.