GEIS-新闻详情

Election day fury as thousands unable to vote after huge blunder sparks system meltdown

2024-07-04 00:00:00.0 每日快报-政治原网页

Thousands of Britons were left unable to cast their votes due to postal ballot delays (Image: Getty)

Thousands of Britons were left unable to cast their votes in the General Election due to postal ballot delays, with voters claiming that postmen were instructed to prioritise parcel deliveries over ballots.

This disruption has affected as many as 120 constituencies, as the postal system sees a soaring demand.

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Mrs. Javens claimed a postman informed her that parcels were being prioritised, leading to their postal vote delay.

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Many voters reported receiving their ballots too late to participate in the election. (Image: Getty)

"We haven’t been given a choice – and that’s not right," she told The Telegraph.

Despite these claims, Royal Mail has denied prioritising parcels over ballots, stating there are no delays in West Sussex for either parcels or post.

However, reports from Royal Mail staff to BBC Panorama in February suggested that letters were often left behind in sorting offices, with tracked items and parcels taking precedence.

Jon Pinches, a director at MPS, a company that prints ballot papers for local authorities, confirmed being informed of such prioritisations and staffing issues at delivery offices by postmen and Royal Mail workers.

This is not the first time Royal Mail has faced scrutiny over its service priorities.

In 2023, Ofcom accepted Royal Mail's claim that it does not prioritise parcels but still fined the postal service ￡5.6 million for missing delivery targets.

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Thousands of Britons were left unable to cast their votes due to postal ballot delays (Image: Getty)

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The postal service offers a Special Delivery service guaranteeing next-day delivery by 1pm, but other services lack guaranteed delivery times, although first-class post is expected within one business day.

Voters had until 5pm on June 19 to apply for a postal vote and were advised to return them immediately.

Those unable to send their ballots back by post could hand them in at polling stations or council offices, albeit with additional form-filling requirements due to changes in the Elections Act 2022.

This situation left many, especially those already on holiday, effectively disenfranchised.

The demand for postal voting has surged, with 21 percent of voters using postal ballots in the 2019 general election. This year, the number is expected to rise by over a million.

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The Electoral Commission has announced that it will investigate the postal voting issues as part of its post-election research.

The delays have sparked debate among party leaders, councils, and Royal Mail over who is to blame.

In North West Essex, over 2,600 ballots were delayed due to “human error” by the council, prompting the local council chief executive to have workers hand-deliver ballots to ensure timely voting.

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