Key safety features revealed on how Kirklees elections will be carried out in May

Voters will even be asked to supply their own pen or pencil in order to place an ‘X’ in the appropriate box.

And, following the government’s confirmation that polling is set to go ahead in May, local authorities like Kirklees face a monumental task in ensuring voting takes place safely with counting handled fairly and transparently.

May 6 has been dubbed “Super Thursday” as the country will go to the polls for district, county, metropolitan councils, and police and crime commissioners as well as the mayoral elections in London and West Yorkshire.

Kirklees Council generally operates more than 190 polling stations across the borough’s voting area, which vary in size and layout.

Some stations may have to be moved from their traditional locations, switching from portable buildings to bricks-and-mortar sites.

And questions have been raised over how the count – at Cathedral House in Huddersfield – might take place given social distancing guidelines and a potential limit on the number of people allowed in the building for the purposes of scrutiny.

It has been suggested that smaller rooms will be used along with the main hall, with access limited to candidates and essential election personnel.

Kirklees’ chief executive, Jacqui Gedman, who is also the authority’s returning officer, expressed confidence that the council could deliver the elections safely.

She said: “Over the course of the pandemic we’ve faced many challenges, including how we deliver the services that local people rely on.

“Organising elections, whilst we’re combating the COVID-19 pandemic, brings with it a number of challenges and we’re confident of delivering these elections in the safest way possible.”

Work has been going on behind the scenes for weeks. There has been a great deal of discussion over whether the 2021 elections would even go ahead or whether they might be postponed to the summer or even the autumn.

As well as local elections, people in Kirklees will be asked to vote for an elected Mayor of West Yorkshire.

The new mayor will chair the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA), a group of leading councillors and officers from West Yorkshire councils, plus York, that works on major infrastructure projects, and oversee the county’s £1.8bn devolution deal.

Prime minister Boris Johnson took the decision to postpone last year’s elections as polling day would have coincided with the expected peak of the coronavirus outbreak.

This year councils like Kirklees are encouraging residents to vote by post and to apply now if they prefer not to have to vote in person at a polling station.

The council has said that voters may have to queue and, depending on the size of a polling station, there may be queues outside the building.

In addition there will be a limit to how many voters will be allowed into a polling station at any one time. Voters will be encouraged to bring their own pen or pencil to vote and, unless the voter has a medical exemption, face coverings must be worn inside polling stations.

One-way systems will be in place and appropriate signage and directional signs will be posted in each station. Where possible, there will be a different entrance and exit. Facilities for sanitising hands will be available at entrances and exits for voters.

Polling booths and equipment will be cleaned periodically throughout the day of the poll. Additional staff will be employed to assist voters, provide information and manage queues.

All staff will be trained in the revised procedures and they will be provided

with the relevant PPE. Desk-top perspex screens will be in situ in each station.