Section 48 and Schedule 18: Powers to act for the protection of public health: Northern Ireland Section 70: Postponement of local authority elections for casual vacancies
This section applies where under section 37 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 an election is to be held to fill a casual vacancy in the office of councilor in a Local Authority. It enables the relevant Returning Officer (the "RO") to postpone a by-election to fill a councillor vacancy in a Local Authority. The power enables the RO to fix a later date for the poll where a date has been fixed or, where no date has been fixed, to fix a date which is outside the period required by section 37(1) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. The RO must fix a new date as soon as reasonably practicable. This power can be exercised more than once and this section specifies who the RO must consult before exercising the power. The power cannot be exercised to fix a by-election after 6th May 2021.
	The territorial extent and application of this section is Scotland only.