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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Voting concerns as papers delayed | Voting concerns as papers delayed |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Postal voters at home and abroad fear they may have lost the chance to vote in the Scottish elections because of a delay in delivering ballot papers. | Postal voters at home and abroad fear they may have lost the chance to vote in the Scottish elections because of a delay in delivering ballot papers. |
| Production and distribution problems have been blamed, with forms failing to arrive at homes ahead of Thursday. | |
| The problem has been highlighted in areas including Aberdeenshire and the Borders ahead of Thursday's elections. | |
| The Electoral Commission's Andy O'Neill admitted that some people could miss out but the vast majority would not. | |
| There does seem to be a small number of people who may not be able to vote Andy O'NeillElectoral Commission | |
| Councils said anyone worried about not receiving their papers should get in touch with them as soon as possible. | Councils said anyone worried about not receiving their papers should get in touch with them as soon as possible. |
| Comments sent to BBC Scotland's news website from voters living abroad include: "I am living in Belgium at the moment, and applied well before the deadline for my postal vote. | Comments sent to BBC Scotland's news website from voters living abroad include: "I am living in Belgium at the moment, and applied well before the deadline for my postal vote. |
| "The elections are on Thursday and I have not yet received my postal ballot. My vote is lost. | "The elections are on Thursday and I have not yet received my postal ballot. My vote is lost. |
| "Clearly there is not a good enough machinery in place to allow those overseas to vote by post. It is unacceptable that I should be effectively barred from voting by post simply because I live overseas." | "Clearly there is not a good enough machinery in place to allow those overseas to vote by post. It is unacceptable that I should be effectively barred from voting by post simply because I live overseas." |
| 'Some delays' | |
| Another voter, from Kingswells, said: "Somewhere along the line there is gross incompetence because it's totally unacceptable. | Another voter, from Kingswells, said: "Somewhere along the line there is gross incompetence because it's totally unacceptable. |
| "Where does all the blame lie? This must be sorted out." | "Where does all the blame lie? This must be sorted out." |
| Mr O'Neill told BBC Scotland: "There have been some delays in terms of the distribution of postal votes. Our understanding is the vast majority have been distributed." | |
| He said people in Scotland who had not yet received their papers could get a replacement or hand in their papers when they arrive rather than posting them back. | |
| Of voters living abroad who had not received their ballot papers, he said: "In that instance you will not be able to vote. There does seem to be a small number of people who may not be able to vote." | |
| Write in | |
| Mr O'Neill said: "We have a duty to report and will look at it and learn from any of the lessons." | |
| In Dumfries and Galloway a total of 1,600 voters were still waiting for postal papers at the end of last week. However, the council said these had been sent out on Friday and should have arrived at the relevant homes. | |
| Meanwhile, a "small pocket" of voters was still without papers in the Scottish Borders, according to the local authority. | |
| "We are doing everything we can to determine the extent of the problem and to help voters to get their papers in on time," said Returning Officer David Hume. | |
| Ballot paper producer DRS admitted an increase in demand for postal ballots had put pressure on its print run. | |
| It is understood the print run was completed last week and DRS said it was not responsible for distribution. | It is understood the print run was completed last week and DRS said it was not responsible for distribution. |
| The Royal Mail said it would carry out special sweeps of delivery rooms throughout Scotland on the night of the elections to catch any late postal ballots which would then be handed over to election officials. | |
| Are you worried about not yet receiving your postal ballot? Write to BBC Scotland's news website to let us know. Click here to send an email, and write 'postal ballot concern' in the subject line. | Are you worried about not yet receiving your postal ballot? Write to BBC Scotland's news website to let us know. Click here to send an email, and write 'postal ballot concern' in the subject line. |
| To learn more about how to vote on polling day, listen to Mr O'Neill's advice during Wednesday's special election webcast with Maggie Shiels. | |
| He will explain the different systems of voting and how long polling stations will be open. | |
| The web broadcast will be available on BBC Scotland's elections site from 1300 BST. | |
| Your comments | Your comments |
| My husband and I are in Washington DC as he is posted here. We were unaware we had been taken off the electoral roll until a few weeks ago. By the time we applied for a postal vote we had missed the first deadline for ballot papers to be posted. | |
| Even if we had made that deadline it would still have not been enough time for us to return the ballot papers. People abroad who wish to vote are being disenfranchised by a system that does not allow enough time. I was very eager to vote in this election and now as a result of this I have lost that chance. Marie Therese Hayes, Washington DC | |
| Hi, I'm a 20-year-old student who is registered to vote in the East Kilbride constituency. I have not however received my postal vote as of today, and have phoned up to enquire to be told I have to come to Hamilton to pick up a vote if I want to vote. I find this completely unacceptable since I'm at university in St Andrews and can't travel home in the next few days. | |
| I did receive my postal vote at the Westminster elections two years ago. I am a little cynical since I did intend to vote SNP. Craig Marsh | |
| I am a postal voter in Aberdeenshire and I received my papers through last week. This is in plenty time to allow proper review of the paper and return within the required time frame. If the papers can be issued to some people on time then why not all? I think that it is pretty poor of the voting system that they are blaming it on a print run and are not responsible for distribution when it is quite clear from my receiving papers that a print run has been carried out and they have been put into the distribution system. | |
| Surely the postal system is not that poor and judging by the amount of unsolicited mail that I have received to my address with party propaganda they have no problem delivering this unwanted waste so why not able to deliver ballots? John, Aberdeenshire | |
| My parents who live in Aboyne did not receive their postal ballots in time before going on holiday despite assurances from the local returning officer. Prisoners in Scottish jails will almost certainly get compensation for not being allowed to vote. Will similar compensation for not being able to exercise constitutional rights be afforded to the hundreds of people affected by these administrative shortcomings? Richard Salway | |
| My son asked for a postal vote for his university residence in England, after being persuaded to do so by some government people in a shopping mall in Dundee. It didn't arrive. He's come home now, but finds he can't vote in person because he is registered for a postal vote. The best they can do is send another ballot paper to ... his address in England. What a shambles. The only consolation is that he was going to vote Labour! John Sutherland, St Andrews | |
| I spoke to my elderly parents last night just before they went on holiday today. They applied for postal votes nearly 3 weeks ago and have received nothing. They complained to North Ayrshire Council who said there papers were "in the post" and took no responsibility. So that's two more SNP votes lost due to the incompetence of Labour local authorities. Paul, Glasgow | |
| My son is living in Norway. He is only 19 - so his first chance to vote. He applied as soon as he could for a postal vote, but his postal vote has not even arrived yet - so absolutely no chance of his vote getting in on time and being counted. He commented that he had received a letter from the SNP at his address in Norway (he is not a member) and thought it pretty ironic that a political party had managed to get their material to him on time, but the authorities' incompetence had disenfranchised him. He's pretty cross about it. | |
| People are worried about young people not taking an interest in voting - here was one young man who firmly believes in democracy and was really looking forward to his first vote. How many other young people on gap years have been affected? And how about the armed forces serving abroad, who are reported to be ready to 'give Labour a kicking'? Are they going to be unable to register their opinions, as well? It makes the cynical amongst us wonder if this is a form of vote rigging? Susan |