Thousands fear they will lose vote in UK election after postal ballot delays

Thousands of people fear they will be unable to vote in the general election with delays, human error and Brexit being blamed for missing postal ballot packs in the UK and abroad.

Clarissa Killwick, a British citizen living in Italy, said she could not trust the post to deliver her vote in time.

“I decided to leave nothing to chance and will be going to the UK to vote in person,” said Killwick, who runs a Brexit campaign group for UK citizens in Italy.

Another said they had to courier their ballot back to the UK.

Vienna-based Michael Goldrei said Hackney council in London told him his pack had been posted on 17 June but he started to panic when it had not arrived a week later. It eventually arrived on 26 June. Goldrei said he was “determined that my vote was counted” so he sent it back via DHL at a cost of €45 (£38). “But will others do that?”

Peter Moore has been posting his vote from France for 14 years and blamed Brexit for this year’s delays. “Prior to Brexit, a letter between UK and France took two or three days … since Brexit, it now usually takes a week for a letter to arrive.”

He is worried there will not be enough time to guarantee the delivery of his vote.

Bruce Darrington, who is the chair of the British Overseas Voters Forum and lives in Bangkok, said he feared a high number of postal votes would not reach the UK in time.

The group has partnered with Unlock Democracy and New Europeans UK to investigate people’s experiences this year and come up with solutions for the Electoral Commission.

“At the moment, thousands of people could be putting their votes into postboxes around the world and thinking ‘job done’,” said Tom Brake, a former Liberal Democrat MP and the director of Unlock Democracy. “But in reality their vote could be arriving in the UK weeks after polls have closed and never be counted.”

New Europeans UK and Unlock Democracy have urged the UK to consider setting up “overseas constituencies”, which would allow British people to place their vote in the country they live in. Seventeen countries including France, Italy, Portugal and Romania operate overseas constituencies.

Delays have also been reported in Scotland and England. Postal voters constitute more than a fifth of the electorate.

Most schools in Scotland broke up for the summer holidays at the end of June and many people who had hoped to vote by post are on holiday. The first minister, John Swinney, said the problem highlighted that no consideration had been made for Scottish term dates when the election was called.

Edinburgh city council set up an emergency facility for lost and delayed postal votes at the weekend with a unit providing replacement documentation in the city chambers open from 9am to 5pm each day until the election. Voters are asked to bring photo ID.

A spokesperson said it had issued 370 replacements over the weekend. It had originally sent out 103,581 postal packs. Fife council and Glasgow city council have opened similar facilities.

Malcolm Burr, the convener of the electoral management board for Scotland, said that for postal voting to be a “viable option” returning officers “must rely on print suppliers and a predictable and reliable service from Royal Mail”.

There are also problems in England. The leader of Uttlesford district council in north-west Essex said 2,644 postal ballots went out nine days late owing to “human error” during the oversight of printing.

The council said anyone who had not received their ballot pack by Monday should call the council on 01799 510 510 to request a reissue of their ballot paper, which would then be hand-delivered.

Those who are worried the delay may mean the ballot will not reach the electoral officers on time can submit the pack by hand at the council offices or at any polling station on election day.

Southwark council in London has identified problems with postal votes in the SE22 area. A spokesperson said they had “raised this at a senior level with Royal Mail”, which was confident it would deliver all outstanding ballot packs in time.

The Electoral Commission has said it will investigate the problem fully after the election.