Rishi Sunak insists he isn’t worried that postal vote delays could leave voters disenfranchised ahead of the General Election.
Issues with printing and delivery have meant voters were only beginning to receive their ballot on Friday and it caused issues in Scotland with the start of the school summer holidays meaning many families were beginning to make their trips away.
The City of Edinburgh Council set up an emergency facility for people to cast their vote over the weekend if they were going to be away this week. John Swinney also suggested that Scottish voters would become ‘disenfranchised’ as he repeated his concerns about the timing of the election called by Sunak.
The Tory Prime Minister disagreed with the First Minister and his staff say they are working closely with the Electoral Commission to try and solve any issues.
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When asked if he agreed with Swinney’s concerns, Sunak’s official spokesman said: “No.
“We are aware of some concerns around the printing and delivery of postal ballot packs in some local areas.
“We’re working closely with the Electoral Commission, returning officers, Royal Mail and the print suppliers to support the resolution of these issues.
“We understand that the Royal Mail will also be conducting sweeps of their delivery system on polling day to make sure that any ballot packs still in the postal system are identified and passed to returning officers ahead of polls closing.
“And anyone who hasn’t received their postal ballot yet may want to contact their returning officer or arrange for it to be reissued, or to arrange for an alternative avenue to cast their ballot.”
Many Scots are now abroad enjoying the start of their summer holiday and are unable to vote but it has been suggested they could apply for an emergency proxy and they were told to consult Electoral Commission guidance and speak to their returning officer.
Swinney, on Sunday, said 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”.
He also said there had been “no thought given to summer school holidays” in Scotland when Sunak called the election.
“Those postal ballots have not arrived with people and some of them have now left the country, and they have been disenfranchised because of the timing of the election, which is something I deeply regret,” he told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips on Sky News.
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