Therefore, I call on the Minister for Housing and Local Government, Julie James. 

Motion NDM7557 Rebecca Evans

To propose that the Senedd, in accordance with Standing Order 26.95:

Agrees that a government Bill to be known as the Welsh Elections (Coronavirus) Bill and to be introduced in the Senedd be treated as a government Emergency Bill.

Motion NDM7558 Rebecca Evans

To propose that the Senedd, in accordance with Standing Order 26.98(ii):

Agrees that the timetable for the government Emergency Bill to be known as the Welsh Elections (Coronavirus) Bill will be as set out in the Timetable for consideration of the Welsh Elections (Coronavirus) Bill laid before the Senedd on 19 January 2021.

Motions moved.

Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm sure that we're all tired of both saying and hearing the word 'unprecedented', but it is nevertheless true that the coronavirus pandemic continues to confront us with choices and decisions that, in other circumstances, we would certainly not have considered and we would've had to get used to living with that uncertainty. 

The Senedd election is to take place on 6 May. I want to be absolutely clear that the Government's policy is that it should take place as scheduled and I want everyone involved in the election to prepare on that basis. The Senedd urgently needs a Government with a fresh mandate, not least to stand up with renewed authority to the unprecedented attempts of the Westminster Government to undermine devolution. I'm well aware of the huge efforts being made by returning officers and electoral administrators to ensure that the poll can be safely held in May, and would like to express my gratitude to them. Nevertheless, despite the welcome fact that levels of infection are starting to decline, we cannot today be certain that it will be possible to hold a poll in May. The pandemic poses a risk that voters may be prevented from voting, whether by reason of ill health or the need to comply with requirements to self-isolate, or because of the fears that they may have about the safety of attending a polling station to vote in person. Equally, high levels of sickness also bring the risk of not having enough staff available to administer the poll, with a consequential risk to the integrity of the election itself.

Deputy Presiding Officer, that's why we established the elections planning group, which reported in November proposing adjustments to respond to the impacts of the virus. We are working closely with stakeholders to ensure that these and other measures are being taken to make elections safer. These include introducing social distancing and hygiene methods at polling stations, as well as encouraging registration for absent voting so that voters do not need to attend in person if they do not wish to do so. But as the rules for our elections are set out in primary legislation, we have concluded that we need to put in place legislation that will enable the election to be postponed if—and only if—the Senedd agrees that the public health situation makes it impossible to proceed.

This Bill, if passed, enables contingency plans to be agreed for the postponement of the election as a last resort should the pandemic pose a serious threat to the safe and fair running of the election. It will be for the Llywydd to propose a date for the poll in the event of a proposal from the First Minister for postponement. The new date fixed for the election must be within six months of 6 May and requires the approval of the Senedd by a majority of two thirds of the total number of Senedd seats. As a further safeguard, the Bill proposes a role for the Electoral Commission in relation to postponement. If the Llywydd or the First Minister requests, the Electoral Commission must provide them with advice on the matter of postponement. 

So, this Bill contains many safeguards to ensure that postponement is not only considered in genuinely unprecedented circumstances, but if we do not introduce these provisions, we will lose an important contingency option in responding to the pandemic. I and my fellow Ministers strongly believe in making voting easier and more flexible, and would've liked to introduce provisions for early voting in order to give people more choice as to when to vote in person, but we have accepted the advice of the electoral community that, at this notice, and in the circumstances where the Senedd election will happen at the same time as the elections of the police and crime commissioners, who are the responsibility of the UK Government, this cannot be achieved for 6 May. We will continue to keep early voting under review in the event that the election is postponed. In such exceptional circumstances, we must consider all options to enable voters to participate in the election. We may, therefore, return to this at Stage 2.

While the focus in the media has been on the date of the election itself, this Bill also includes other important legislative changes that will increase the flexibility for proxy voting and provide additional time within the post-election timetable in the event of delays to the count.

The Bill shortens the dissolution period to ensure that the Senedd can be recalled even after the election campaign has begun if it is essential for it to meet to consider urgent coronavirus public health business or to set the date for the election if, in the last resort, the election has to be postponed. A shorter dissolution means that decisions on postponement can be taken nearer the planned election date and that the Senedd can continue to respond to the pandemic, if circumstances dictate. We're all too familiar with the unpredictable nature of the unfolding pandemic. We will be discussing with the Business Committee the arrangements for Senedd business during the period when the Senedd would normally be dissolved, but I would anticipate that we would not meet for other business except to postpone the election or to consider urgent changes to COVID-related legislation.

The pandemic has so far required a swift and pragmatic approach, which will require all of our focus as elected representatives to deal with the rapidly changing situation. That is why we are also proposing that, as a contingency, provisions are included to further postpone local government by-elections.

It is the unpredictable nature of the pandemic that leads me to call on you to agree to this motion today and allow us to proceed with this Bill under the emergency Bill procedure. As a Government, we would prefer to be able to make use of the normal Bill process to allow for the Senedd to apply its full scrutiny to this Bill. However, this is simply not feasible in the time available.

With the election fast approaching, it's preferable to have any changes to electoral law put in place well ahead of polling day. This is important in aiding electoral administrators to make their preparations for the election and to provide them with clarity to carry out their vital role. Although we are working closely with stakeholders, we must allow them as much time as we can to carry out any legislative changes. The time left between now and the polling day in May is simply not sufficient to allow for the full scrutiny process and for administrators to make preparations.

The objective of this Bill is to introduce temporary changes in response to the immediate challenges presented by the pandemic, and it is not intended to make permanent changes to our electoral laws. The provisions in the Bill will only apply for the elections in 2021 and will have no effect on future elections. Electoral law is a complex subject matter, and permanent changes in this area should be subject to full scrutiny.

Our proposed timetable for the Bill is to have it introduced tomorrow, followed by the Stage 1 debate the following week. Stage 2 and Stages 3 and 4 will take place on consecutive days in the week of 8 February. Under this timetable, Royal Assent can then be achieved in the week of 15 February. I therefore urge Members to vote in favour of this motion and allow us to make use of the emergency Bill process for this Bill. Diolch, Deputy Presiding Officer. 

When the Welsh Government seeks to introduce an emergency Bill on the grounds that it needs to be enacted more quickly than the Senedd's usual legislative process allows, this essentially streamlines the Senedd's law-making and accountability processes. It should, therefore, only be used when there's a real and unforeseen emergency.

The Welsh Government has only used this method of legislating twice before, with the Agricultural Sector (Wales) Act 2014 and the Law Derived from the European Union (Wales) Act 2018. Arguably, their motives were political on both occasions, and this must not become the case with the Welsh Elections (Coronavirus) Bill that they're now seeking consent from the Senedd to introduce.

The Scottish General Election (Coronavirus) Bill, enabling Scottish Government Ministers to delay the Scottish general election beyond 6 May, subject to a vote of the whole Scottish Parliament, was first introduced in the Scottish Parliament on 16 November 2020. Although it passed through an accelerated timescale, Members of the Scottish Parliament still had over five weeks to consider the Bill. The proposed Welsh Government timetable for this Bill will, in contrast, give Members of the Senedd just over two weeks' scrutiny until Stage 3.

Although the pandemic crisis has been here since March 2020 and we've known the date for the next Welsh Parliament election for five years, the First Minister didn't suggest a change in regulations until November. We must therefore ask why the Welsh Government has put itself in a situation where it needs to be using such emergency procedures. Where is the foresight, when it was evident that the pandemic would still be dominating the agenda? Some might say that the drop in public confidence in the Welsh Government's handling of the pandemic may have had an influence on their motives for seeking this emergency Bill now, but I couldn't possibly comment. Whilst we will vote today to agree that the Welsh Government can introduce the Welsh Elections (Coronavirus) Bill as an emergency Bill in the Senedd, recognising the potential need for delay based on the badly deteriorating public health situation, we are only lending them our vote. However, the Welsh Government has not said what situation the pandemic needs to be in to require an election delay, and our continued support would require the Welsh Government to specify what the bar will need to be before the First Minister formally requests a delay. We also note that the Bill would include other content, and recognise that some of this has merit, including the reduction in dissolution to seven calendar days before an election. However, we're concerned that some proposed content may only be introduced as Welsh Government amendments at a later date.

We took part in the Welsh Government's elections planning group last summer, and there are a number of concerns that we still have from that planning group, including extending voting over multiple days, where voters will be disenfranchised if they thought that voting on another day for the Welsh Parliament would still enable them to vote for the police and crime commissioner; extending voting hours from 6.00 a.m. till 11:00 p.m., when it's not believed that this would improve voter turnout; and increasing the number of proxy votes, where we would not want to see any changes that would allow an individual to act as proxy for a whole household where they're not related.

Delaying the Welsh general election due to take place on 6 May would have huge ramifications, with many feeling disenfranchised, especially when the pandemic has shone such a bright light on devolved Government in Wales. Elections have taken place in a number of countries during the course of the pandemic, including the United States, Spain, France, Canada, New Zealand and South Korea. As South Korea's director general for public health policy subsequently stated, not one case related to the election was reported during the 14-day incubation period. And although Mr Trump claims that this allowed US votes to be miscounted, this is not exactly a widely held view in this place. Although the proposed Bill includes little on postal voting, we would welcome more detail on how people will be encouraged to sign up.

Considering that the Scottish parliamentary elections, mayoral elections, English council elections and police and crime commissioner elections are also due this spring, can the Minister also state whether or not there are ongoing discussions about a co-ordinated UK-wide approach to these elections? Welsh Conservatives have always maintained that the Welsh Parliament elections should take place on 6 May 2021 except in exceptional, emergency circumstances. Diolch. Thank you.

Fair and free elections are the foundation of any healthy democracy, and it's about time that the people of Wales had an opportunity to give an injection of energy to this Senedd and to elect a new Government after a five-year term, which is already lengthy in comparative terms—too long in my view, but we're not here to discuss that today. It's not lightly that this Senedd is asked to consent to the Government introducing a piece of legislation that would allow the delaying of the election, therefore. In discussing the report of the elections planning group back in November, Adam Price said that

'it's difficult to anticipate a situation where Senedd elections would have to be postponed.'

However, the experience of the past few months has shown us that we can take nothing for granted, and that is so very true. Since then, a new variant of the virus has been discovered, we're back in a strict lockdown, and whilst the vaccination efforts do provide some hope, there is some way to go. And although we do truly want this election to be held on 6 May, all of a sudden 6 May feels very close. We do support the Government's request of the Senedd to treat this Bill under the emergency procedure, but not unconditionally. Despite the tight timetable, it's important that scrutiny of the Bill is robust and comprehensive. We need the draft legislation to be published as soon as possible. The Member in charge of the Bill has already reached out to opposition parties. We expect that to continue, and with the Senedd Commission too, in order to fully recognise the fact that this is not a normal Bill by any means, and that everything needs to be done to safeguard the integrity of the democratic process. Public health and the health of our democracy is at the front of our minds as a party, as is the case with every other party, hopefully.

I noted that the Government's statement attached to this motion states that the pandemic represents two risks to the integrity of the election: one in the ability of constituents to participate in the election; the second for administrators to actually hold the election. I think there is a third major risk too. It's not the 6 May date that's important but the period leading up to that, that period of engaging with the people of Wales. We're talking about electing a national Government here that will guide us as a nation through the post-pandemic period, and we need to have that full public debate. Apart from the fact that the election, I suppose, is the last thing on the minds of many people—many are ill, many are suffering economically, many will have lost loved ones even—there are also practical considerations emerging from the democratic deficit, the weakness of the press in Wales and the inability, even, to distribute leaflets about the election, which is very important in Welsh elections because of that deficit in the media.

We need clarity on that final point. In response to a written question from Siân Gwenllian, the First Minister stated that distributing election leaflets was unlawful under the level 4 restrictions. I heard somebody mention that, 'You can share as many pizza pamphlets as you like but no pamphlets relating to a democratic process that is so very important.' On the other hand, one of the Welsh police forces has said that it should be allowed, because distributing leaflets is work that cannot be done from home. So, we need clarity on those issues. I understand that nations that have held elections during the pandemic, such as the United States, have even allowed some door-to-door campaigning. So, we need to know exactly what could be allowed.

Now, whilst social media is an option, not everyone makes use of social media, and it's very important to bear that in mind. The royal mail is very expensive. In Arfon at the moment I think people have been without a postal service because of the impact of COVID on the postal workforce. And in terms of the cost, the Chartists were in the vanguard at one time in their call to make elections free in all aspects, not just for the wealthy. So, despite the understandable restrictions as a result of the pandemic, we must safeguard that principle too.

Now, in conclusion, and staying with the theme of the fairness and integrity of the election, there is an inherent fairness, one could argue, in the dissolution period in order to safeguard public funds from being misused and not favouring some candidates over the other. We will scrutinise that proposal to reduce the dissolution period from 21 days to seven, given the implications to purdah, civil service arrangements, broadcast arrangements and so on, but most importantly in terms of getting a grip on the spread of the virus. The worst thing possible would be a Government and a Senedd dealing with the worst wave of the pandemic whilst in the midst of an election campaign. As I said, it's about time we had an election. It should be on 6 May. Our aspiration would be that it should be held then, but, of course, this virus has proved over the past year that it is a master of us all—

Will the Member wind up, please?

Yes, I will. The virus has proved that it can be a master of us all, and it's still very influential in our daily lives and our democratic decisions at the moment.

Thank you. Mike Hedges.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I believe, if at all possible, we should have an election on 6 May. But postponing an election would not be unique. Can you remember the general election of 2001 had been expected on 3 May to coincide with local elections? But, on 2 April, votes were postponed to 7 June because of the rural movement restrictions imposed in response to the foot and mouth outbreak that had started in February.

Another possible reason is that post cannot be collected, so postal votes would not be being received—something Rhun ap Iorwerth talked about regarding post when he was making his statement—or post boxes are blocked. People remember postal strikes—when boxes got full, they blocked them. I believe we should have the shortest possible dissolution period for the Senedd ahead of the day of the vote, which will enable the Senedd to meet should this be required to debate and agree new legislation relating to the pandemic, or consider recommendations from the Llywydd to postpone the poll. I would like the dissolution to be 5 o'clock on the Wednesday prior to polling day, thus enabling any new pandemic legislation to be enacted before the election. Before Government lawyers say it is impossible, what legislative changes would be necessary to enable it?

We must remember the US election took place during the pandemic. I'd be very disappointed if the Senedd election could not take place. If the Conservatives postpone the police and crime commissioners and the English council elections, that is no reason for us to postpone the Senedd election. One thing we could request all parties to consider is a return to four-year electoral term—five years is too long. It was brought in for the best of reasons to apply with the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. In my opinion, never has any piece of legislation been more meaningless. This must be the last five-year term.

I now want to turn to action that I'm asking from the Welsh Government: that returning officers write to everyone about the postal vote offering them one. One of the problems with postal votes is their high rejection rate. This is caused by two things: people entering the date of signing rather than their date of birth, and signatures not matching. The proposals are that those who've entered the date they posted not their date of birth are contacted by phone, if possible, to confirm their date of birth; that those with signatures that do not match are contacted to confirm they have returned their ballot. One of the major reasons the signatures don't match is the elector has had health problems, such as a stroke or Parkinson's disease, since they applied for the postal vote, which really does affect people's signatures. We want a fair election where everyone who wants to vote can, and their vote is counted.

Turning to proxy votes, currently students must get a form signed by the course tutor. That, I think people would agree, is almost impossible at the current time. I was fortunate that my daughter did hers back in November; very few people were thinking about the May Senedd elections in November. I would urge the Government to consider legislation to enable direct family members, meaning spouse, parent or child, to have a proxy vote on demand. This is a balance between stopping vote harvesting and allowing the votes of everyone to be counted. 

Finally, regarding the count. I support counting the next day, although I expect to sleep at night between the polling day and the next day. On the count, again, can we learn from America, where the count of votes cast in the ballot book and valid postal votes received by the end of polling day are counted on the Friday, with an extension date for postal votes made if there are problems with their return due to postal problems, and a judge is appointed to determine how long that extension should be? I believe we all want free and fair elections. I hope the Government will take up my suggestions, but, if not, explain why.

And I discovered over the weekend a problem: paying the deposit. They want the deposit paid—in Swansea, at least—by electronic transfer, but it has to happen at exactly the same time as the nomination form is accepted. Now, that, if they follow the strict interpretation, is going to be almost impossible. So, I think that you're going to end up with—. You're queuing—. And we know what happens when putting our nomination papers in. I would urge that the Minister has some discussions with returning officers about that, because I think it is important that people do pay their deposit. I suggested that you paid it before you hand your nomination papers in, but I was told that couldn't happen. I think that we really do need to sort out some of the mechanics of this before things start going wrong.

I have to say at the outset that my preference is for the Senedd elections to go ahead as planned on 6 May, but only if is safe to do so, because we are in the middle of an unpredictable pandemic that kills hundreds of people in Wales each week. Thousands of people have died in the past year, and thousands more are left struggling to breathe or battling terrible fatigue for many months, and it's all due to this awful disease—a disease that has led to half of our critical beds and a quarter of our hospitals being full of patients with COVID-19. It has led to exams being cancelled for schoolchildren for the second year in a row, and parents across the nation struggling to home school their children. And it's led to the closure of large parts of our economy, thousands of businesses failing and tens of thousands losing their jobs. The SARS-CoV-2 virus has mutated, it has become more virulent and is still infecting hundreds of our citizens each day. But we have hope, hope that we didn't have this time last year. We have two vaccines being delivered, with hopefully more on the way. Whilst we have got off to a great start, we have only delivered the first dose to around 8 per cent of the population. We don't expect to have vaccinated everyone until the end of this year. So, in light of all this, how can we possibly hold free and fair elections?

In the past few weeks, I've heard others point out that larger democracies have held elections, mostly pointing to the USA, but their elections are not like our elections, and US citizens have weeks to vote. We have 15 hours. US citizens rely on televised debates to get information about their candidates, and we knock on people's doors to introduce ourselves. So, unless we vastly change the way we conduct elections, it's difficult to see how we could safely hold elections whilst the pandemic continues to run rife.

We also have to consider whether we have the manpower to even run an election. Should we be diverting resources away from bringing a swift end to the pandemic toward running an election? Of course, we could see vast improvements over the next couple of months, allowing us to hold free and fair elections, but by the same token, we could see things worsen. Who knows what the new variants will bring? As more people become infected, the more chances this virus has to mutate. So, God forbid we see a variant that is resistant to the vaccines.

So, if the past year's taught us anything, it's that this pandemic is unpredictable. It therefore makes sense for us to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. So, I hope we can hold elections in May, but we have to introduce this emergency Bill so that we can postpone them if it's not safe to hold them in 14 weeks' time, and public safety is of paramount importance. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

I will be supporting the Government this afternoon, and also supporting the Government when the substantive legislation comes before us next week. As one of the Ministers who did introduce emergency legislation, I've given this some serious consideration, because it is a mechanism that should only be used when the circumstances demand it. We learned today that we've lost more people to COVID in the last week than we have at any other point in the pandemic. It would have been irresponsible had the Government not taken this action, not introduced this legislation and not conducted the legislation in the way that it is proposing to do.

Like others, I want to see the election take place on 6 May. I've made this point a number of times in different debates and in questions. I think it's important that this Parliament is refreshed and renewed. Each Government needs a mandate, but we all need a new mandate, and, like Mike Hedges, I would like to see the Government introduce an amendment at Stage 2 going back to four-year terms, rather than continuing the current five-year term.

But I've got three questions I'd like to ask the Minister in supporting the Government this afternoon. The first point is that about transparency and openness. It is right and proper that all Members are aware of the criteria that the Government will use in reaching conclusions on this. Will the Government be looking across Wales at the R number, at the number of cases? Will there be issues around the growth or the decline of the pandemic in different parts of the country? For example, in Blaenau Gwent, numbers have been reducing over the last few weeks, but that's not the same as Flintshire or Wrexham, where they've been increasing in relative terms. So, what are the criteria that the Government will use in order to determine whether an election can be held safely?

The points that Rhun ap Iorwerth made were also absolutely essential, because the Government has a duty to ensure that an election takes place safely, but it also has a duty to ensure that the election is democratic and fair. We all know and we all recognise, I think, as Members, that we have an advantage through incumbency, and that the major parties will have further advantages of resources that will enable them to fight an electronic, online election, in a way that smaller parties cannot, and individual candidates would find more difficult. It is important that the election is not only safe, but is fair, free and democratic, and we need to understand what the criteria are for the Government in reaching its conclusions in terms of democracy, in terms of fairness, as well as in terms of safety.

I would also, then—. The second question is in terms of timescale. A number of Members have suggested that we need to leave this decision as long as possible, and I've got sympathy for that. But I also believe that we need to understand what the next few months hold for people. And I'd like to understand from the Government when they intend or when they believe they will be able to take some decisions on these matters. What is the timescale for reaching a decision on these issues? How will they determine that timescale, and when can we expect to be a part of that consultation and conversation?

And the final question is this, Minister: in a safe election, in a fair election and in a democratic election, it is possible to do things differently. For example, we've heard the election planning group say that they would prefer to count the day after rather than overnight, and I agree with that. But were we to use election ballot counting machines, as have been used in Scotland and are used elsewhere, then we could go through these matters in a more timely way but also using less resource. And I do believe also that we need to look at voting on a Sunday or a weekend, multiday elections, and look at different ways of conducting our democracy. Our democracy is a great and precious thing. We saw how democracy was delayed in 2001 as a consequence of foot and mouth, and that was necessary and the right decision. We will support, I think—two-thirds of Members here would support a delay, if we were able to understand why that delay was taking place, and if we were to explain to the people we seek to represent why that delay is taking place. But we also need to do so in a way that is transparent, that is open and is accountable, and where we can ensure that our precious democracy is protected and deepened. Thank you.

Thanks to the Minister for her statement today. We in the Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party do not support this Welsh Government legislation because, quite simply, we don't think it is necessary. Free and fair elections are a defining feature of a functioning democracy, so of course we have to take the process seriously. But they also have to be regular elections, and if the term of the legislature is five years, then we had better have a very good reason for wanting to make that term longer than five years.

Now, I realise, of course, that we are in the middle of a global crisis, and the health of the people of Wales is of paramount concern, but if we look around the world, elections have been held in many countries without any real problems occurring. Mark Isherwood detailed a few of these elections in his contribution. So, I think we need to proceed on the basis that the Assembly election is taking place on the first Thursday of May, as planned, unless there is a real public health risk at that time that would force a change. But even if there is, we know that there is already power within this Assembly, held by the Presiding Officer, to delay an election by up to a month, under the existing legislation. So, from our viewpoint, this proposed new legislation is quite unnecessary.

Now, it may be that this Welsh Labour Government has reasons of its own for wanting to delay any election. Could it be that this Welsh Government is running scared of the electorate? Could it be that it wants to delay an election because it is frightened it is about to lose its majority? Could it be that it is terrified that some minority party might come along that wants to rock the boat and bring an end to the gravy train called the Welsh Assembly and the Welsh Government? Voters will doubtless come to their own conclusions. Of course, I make no assertions here, I only state the possibilities. But can I also say this: five years is nearly up and Wales has now had more than enough of this incompetent Labour Government. How long must we go on enduring it for? Our term is nearly up, that applies to all of us, and it's time that we were held to account by the only people who matter, the Welsh voters. We need to stop delaying and procrastinating and hold the election. Diolch yn fawr.

I have no Members who wish to intervene, therefore I call on the Minister for Housing and Local Government to reply to the debate. Julie James.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I just want to start by thanking Members for the contributions that they have made to the debate. And, as I stated at the outset, it's not our intention that the date of the election be postponed, it's a matter of last resort and to be used only where it's absolutely necessary because of the threats to public health posed by coronavirus. But, as many Members have agreed, as a responsible Government, we must make preparations to enable us to respond to the risks posed by the coronavirus to the integrity of the election. A number of Members made points around the arrangements for dissolution, the arrangements for the pre-election period in terms of the sitting Government, and a number of other matters of practical importance.

Rather than address all of those numerous points now, I would like to make an offer to all opposition leaders and spokespeople, and to Members of my own party as groups of backbenchers, that if they would like a series of one-on-one meetings with me to discuss some of the intricate details of that, I am more than happy to offer that in the next few days, as the Bill has a very truncated timescale, and we want people to have as much engagement as is humanly possible to manage. So, I make that offer to anyone who wants to take it up, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm very grateful indeed to the Commission and the Llywydd's office and yourself for the engagement with us so far on this as well.

As everybody has said, without this Bill, we will lose an important contingency option in our preparations for the elections in May. It is of course our hope and aim that the election can go ahead as planned and that the electorate is able to vote freely and safely on 6 May. But as everybody in the debate recognised, the course of the pandemic has not been smooth and it's right that we as a responsible Government should put in place a contingency plan, even if it is one that we hope never to have to use. If the Bill is to perform that role as a contingency measure, it is crucial that it is introduced as an emergency Bill in order to be passed in time for the election in May.

Before I finish, Dirprwy Lywydd, I just want to say—to Mark Isherwood in particular—that I have a fortnightly meeting with Chloe Smith MP, who is the elections Minister in the UK Government. We have been discussing throughout the course of these preparations the need for a cool, calm, non-political approach to these elections, and I would recommend that approach to him in particular. And on that note, Deputy Presiding Officer, I urge Members to support the motion. Diolch yn fawr.

The proposal is to agree the motion under item 10. Does any Member object? [Objection.] I see an objection. Therefore, we'll defer voting until voting time.

Voting deferred until voting time.

The proposal is to agree the motion under item 11. Does any Member object? [Objection.] I see objections there, so we defer voting under this item again until voting time.

Voting deferred until voting time.