Elections for borough and district councillors in Crawley, Hastings, Worthing and Adur are due to take place on 7 May.
Crawley Borough Council leader Michael Jones, who had called the meeting and spoke in favour of elections going ahead, expressed his disappointment at the outcome, but said he felt “honour-bound” to follow it through.
He said: “I’m a democrat and sometimes when there’s a vote, you have to comply with the will of the majority on things that you don’t necessarily agree with.”
In Worthing, council leader Sophie Cox, who supported postponement, told residents that the council was not denying their right to vote.
“A delay to elections during a period of rapid transformation and local government reorganisation is neither unusual nor unprecedented,” she said.
Both East Sussex and West Sussex County Council made a request in September to postpone elections for the second year running and both have confirmed they will resubmit a request by the deadline.
Hastings Borough Council has confirmed it will be requesting to postpone its elections due to concerns about stability and finances.
Meanwhile, Adur District Council has not held a meeting on the issue and has yet to reveal how it will respond.
While Adur and Worthing are separate councils, they share administrative services, including electoral services, so it is expected that Adur will follow Worthing and Crawley’s positions.
The government said it would consider responses on a “case by case” basis and it expected to make a decision by March.
Elections for borough and district councillors in Crawley, Hastings, Worthing and Adur are due to take place on 7 May.
Crawley Borough Council leader Michael Jones, who had called the meeting and spoke in favour of elections going ahead, expressed his disappointment at the outcome, but said he felt “honour-bound” to follow it through.
He said: “I’m a democrat and sometimes when there’s a vote, you have to comply with the will of the majority on things that you don’t necessarily agree with.”
In Worthing, council leader Sophie Cox, who supported postponement, told residents that the council was not denying their right to vote.
“A delay to elections during a period of rapid transformation and local government reorganisation is neither unusual nor unprecedented,” she said.
Both East Sussex and West Sussex County Council made a request in September to postpone elections for the second year running and both have confirmed they will resubmit a request by the deadline.
Hastings Borough Council has confirmed it will be requesting to postpone its elections due to concerns about stability and finances.
Meanwhile, Adur District Council has not held a meeting on the issue and has yet to reveal how it will respond.
While Adur and Worthing are separate councils, they share administrative services, including electoral services, so it is expected that Adur will follow Worthing and Crawley’s positions.
The government said it would consider responses on a “case by case” basis and it expected to make a decision by March.
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