The polls for 125 of the state's councils were meant to take place on September 4 but have now been pushed back to December 4, 2021.

Mid-Western Regional Council deputy mayor Sam Paine said the delays were the right move given the deepening COVID-19 crisis in Sydney and the lockdowns that have also hit closer to home more recently.

"It's the best thing to do with the restrictions at the moment to keep everyone safe," Cr Paine said.

"I haven't spoken to the other councillors since the delay was announced, but I do know there is one who was looking forward to retiring, so he'll have to wait just a little bit longer."

It's the second postponement for the elections, which were initially scheduled for September 2020 but canned in March that year as the first coronavirus wave took hold in Australia.

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NSW Minister for Local Government Shelley Hancock said she'd made the "difficult decision" after consulting with the NSW Electoral Commission and NSW Health.

"We have taken this step to postpone the election to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our communities, voters, polling staff and candidates," she said in a statement.

Electors will be able to cast their vote electronically for the first time, when the elections finally go ahead.

Pre-poll has also been extended to 13 days in an attempt to reduce congestion on the polling day.

Cr Paine said there had been no discussions around digital polling, but didn't think they would provide any great relief from pandemic concerns.

"We haven't discussed (digital elections) in Mudgee and the decision to do that would be a bit over our heads and come from a much higher level of government," he said.

"I've never heard of digital voting still not involve going to a polling place, so I'm not sure the technology is really going to create a huge difference to the circumstances we're facing."

He went on to say that the day-to-day operations of council would continue as normal, while some items on the agenda might face a brief delay before being taken up by the new incumbent councillors.

"We were prepared that we wouldn't be able to do anything after a few weeks, so it will probably just mean a few things that were put on hold will have to wait a little longer."

He said at worst the delay was a "slight inconvenience" and said the safety of people around the Mudgee region was the priority. "It's the right thing to do at the moment."

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