SNP 'massively concerned' about postal vote delays

The SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has said he is "massively concerned" about people not receiving postal ballots in time to vote in Thursday's general election.

He warned that if voters did not get their ballot papers before they went on holiday they would be "disenfranchised".

Reports of delays receiving postal votes have caused particular concern in Scotland as most schools there have now broken up for the summer, with many families setting off on holiday.

However, there have also been issues reported in Essex, Devon and parts of London.

Voters who have not yet received their postal ballot are advised to contact their local authority to request a replacement.

Completed postal votes must have reached councils by 22:00 BST on polling day.

Local councils are responsible for sending postal ballot forms to voters but some have blamed Royal Mail for delays.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We have no backlog of postal votes.

"Where concerns have been raised, we have investigated and confirmed ballot packs are being delivered as soon as they arrive in our network.

"We have a specialist elections team that plans every aspect of the elections delivery programme and works closely with local authorities to ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible.”

However, Mr Flynn told BBC Breakfast: "I would probably argue with some of the Royal Mail's sentiments because if there's no backlog then where's the postal votes for my constituents?"

Mr Flynn also called for reform of the system.

"We warned the prime minister of this when it became apparent that he was going to choose the election date because of course for a huge majority of the people of Scotland it's now the school holidays, people are away on holiday," he said.

"If their postal vote didn't land in time then they're now disenfranchised in this election, they're not able to vote for who they want to represent them at Westminster, whether that's the SNP or otherwise."

Postal affairs minister Kevin Hollinrake told the Telegraph: "We urge Royal Mail to do all they can to make sure that postal votes get to the right people at the right time, and time is completely of the essence now.

“There’s a resourcing issue. They have recruited extra people and I welcome that but they’ve got to make sure they’ve got the right number of people to deliver the mail at busy times like this.

“It’s not acceptable it’s sat in sorting offices. It needs to be delivered to people’s houses. So they need to put more people on to do that.”

The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents councils, said there had been an "unprecedented increase" in postal voting, which "adds more pressure to an already complex process and overburdened system".

"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," a spokesperson said.

The LGA called for a review of the postal vote system and more support for Royal Mail and printers to be ready to deliver for elections.

A spokesperson for the Electoral Commission, which oversees elections in the UK, said local authorities and Royal Mail were working to get final postal votes delivered as soon as possible.

The commission acknowledged there were "pressures on the postal voting system due to the holiday season" and said it would conduct a review after the election.

"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," a spokesperson said.

"Anyone who hasn't yet received their postal ballot pack should request a replacement from their local authority. Voters have the option to hand their postal pack to their polling station on polling day if they are concerned about posting it.

"They can also ask someone to hand their ballot pack in on their behalf. Voters can hand in a maximum of five postal ballots in addition to their own, and will be required to complete a form at the polling station when doing so."