FURIOUS SCOTS SLAM POST VOTE CHAOS AS THEY FLY OUT WITHOUT VOTING

•  Councils admit to problems with voting packs as some open emergency polling stations
•  Electoral Commission says it is aware of issues caused by election clashing with holiday season

FURIOUS holiday makers jetted off from Glasgow over the weekend having been robbed off the chance to have a say in Thursday’s election amid the postal vote shambles.

It was thought areas like Edinburgh and Fife were showing the greatest disruption to the distribution of voting forms to people unable to vote in person.

But it looks increasingly like other local authority areas have also failed to comply with their electoral responsibilities.

Last night, the Electoral Commission which oversees the vote, said it would be examining the affair.

Wendy Smith, who was heading for Angola for work on Saturday, said she felt ‘a bit cheated’ that her vote won’t count either on Thursday.

The 59-year-old oil industry worker from Aberdeen said: ‘We got my dad’s postal vote through and helped him send it off.

‘But I was disappointed to discover that mine did not come through on time. The application was made in good time, so why didn’t I get it?

‘Yes, I do feel a bit cheated at being left out.’

After checking in for her flight to Australia on Saturday, Lucy Urquhart-Dixon said: ‘I am raging I didn’t get a postal vote.’

The teacher with North Ayrshire Council said she had applied for her postal vote on June 14, five days before the deadline for applications.

However, the necessary paperwork had not arrived in time ahead of her departure to Brisbane on a three-week holiday.

The 54-year-old, from the Isle of Arran, said: ‘I am staying with friends on the fourth of July and planned to watch the coverage in Australia.

‘But I will be sitting there, knowing I had no influence in its outcome. Picking an election date when many Scots are on holiday just shows what they think of us.’

Cliff and Karen Woodman were booked on a flight to Boston, in the United States, knowing that they too were being denied a part in the national vote.

Mrs Woodman, 61, from Annan, in Dumfries-shire, said the couple had applied for their postal votes ‘around two weeks ago’ but they never arrived.

Her 60-year-old husband said: ‘We wanted to play our part. Dumfries-shire is a long-standing Conservative stronghold and it would have been good to have had some kind of say in the outcome.’

Some councils have admitted problems over the length of time it has taken to print postal voting packs and a number opened emergency polling stations to allow Scots, who would have missed out, to have their say.

Royal Mail has strenuously denied any part in the scandal, saying there were no electoral packs lying around in Scottish sorting offices.

East Renfrewshire Council had teams out over the weekend, delivering packs to those in urgent need of a postal vote form.

The Electoral Commission, which has responsibility for the vote, said it was aware of issues caused by the election coinciding with the holiday season.

A spokesman said: ‘Following the election, we will undertake research with voters and electoral administrators to understand their experiences at this poll. The administration of postal voting is one of the areas we will look at.’

First Minister John Swinney admitted there was ‘nothing that can be done’ about postal votes that have not yet arrived for voters who are now overseas.

The SNP leader said he had ‘made it very clear about the fact some people will be disenfranchised’ if their postal votes cannot be filled out and returned on time.

He added there had been ‘significant reports of people who were trying to vote by post who had applied properly for a postal vote before the deadline of June 19’. 

Local councils are responsible for sending postal ballot forms to voters. 

Completed postal votes must have reached councils by 10pm on polling day, July 4.

They can be returned by post or handed in at council offices and can also be dropped at the correct polling station on election day.

A Tory insider has already raised the prospect of legal challenges after polling day saying Conservatives do better on the postal votes in most constituencies pointing out other parties may also believe they’ve lost seats because of the issues with the distribution of voting packs.

A Scottish Conservative spokesman said: ‘We are concerned that some people may miss the chance to vote to beat the SNP, but we have no plans to challenge the result.’ 

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2024-06-30T17:43:04Z dg43tfdfdgfd