Postal vote delays ‘urgently being investigated’ 48 hours earlier than polls open
Ministers are urgently investigating delays to postal votes after reports that people across the country have not received their ballots.
Councils in Edinburgh, the Borders, Fife and Highland were forced to run emergency drop-in centres at the weekend for voters whose packs have not arrived. Voters have reported problems in London, Essex and Lancashire as alarm mounts that thousands of people could be locked out of voting.
Some 2,600 postal votes were sent out late in Essex’s Uttlesford District Council, whose chief executive apologised for the delay caused by “human error”. Voters in more than 90 constituencies, including those of Cabinet ministers, have raised concerns about their ballots failing to arrive, according to the Telegraph.
Postal Affairs Minister Kevin Hollinrake is urgently investigating the situation, Tory Health Minister Maria Caulfield said. She told Sky News: “Kevin is taking this very seriously. He’s in direct contact with the Royal Mail. It doesn’t seem to be an issue in my constituency, but I know a number of colleagues where people haven’t received their postal votes and are worried about that. Kevin is investigating this urgently.
“I know there’s extra resources going into this to try and do a sweep of all the sorting offices and make sure they’re out there. If people have only just received their postal vote, they can take it to their polling station on election day and it will still be counted.”
No10 said on Monday that the Government was aware of some issues but Rishi Sunak was not worried by warnings from Scottish First Minister John Swinney that people could be disenfranchised. Mr Swinney said: “For the Prime Minister to dismiss and ignore the concerns of Scottish voters who are being denied their right to vote is a democratic disgrace.”
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A Royal Mail spokesperson insisted it has “no backlog”, and a specialist elections team is working closely with local authorities to get ballots to voters in time. “Where concerns have been raised, we have investigated and confirmed ballot packs are being delivered as soon as they arrive in our network,” the spokesperson said.
The Local Government Association, which represents councils responsible for sending out ballots, called for a review of the already “overburdened” system put under extra pressure by an “unprecedented increase” in people voting by post. The elections watchdog said it recognised the system was under pressure due to the summer holidays.
An Electoral Commission spokesperson said: “We know local authorities and Royal Mail are working to get the final ones out as soon as possible. As is the case at all elections, given the electoral timetable, there is a short window of time for administrators to prepare and dispatch postal votes.”
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They added: “We recognise the pressures on the postal voting system due to the holiday season. We are continuing to provide advice and guidance to electoral services teams to support them with the postal voting process.” The Electoral Commission was not able to share information about which areas have been affected.
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Thomas Krych/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock)
According to the regulator, a voter can only apply for an emergency proxy if something unexpected prevents them from voting, such as a medical emergency, being away for work, and a lost or stolen voter ID. Local councils are responsible for sending postal ballot forms to voters. Completed postal votes must have reached councils by 10pm on polling day.
A Local Government Association spokesperson said: “Councils and electoral staff across the country have been doing their utmost to ensure the smooth running of this election and that people can vote. People voting by post are expected to have increased 20% since the 2019 general elections, with more than 1.3 million postal vote applications made between May 22 and June 19. This unprecedented increase adds more pressure to an already complex process and overburdened system.
“We are aware of reports of incidents where delays have happened. The postal vote system could benefit from review and more could be done to support Royal Mail and printers to be ready to deliver elections.”
