East Lothian Council has established an emergency facility in Prestonpans for voters who will be out of town next week and have not received their postal ballots yet. They will be issued with replacement voting packs during the weekend. BBC Scotland News has made inquiries on voter guidance from each one of Scotland’s 32 councils. Almost all councils replied that the final remaining voting packages are going to be delivered on Saturday. In case of any voter still waiting for their ballots, they were asked to contact the council on Monday.
East Lothian voters are able to obtain replacement postal voting papers for the weekend at Prestonpans’ Meadowmill Sports Centre at specific times when they produced identification. Similar measures were adopted at the Edinburgh City Chambers and Fife House in Glenrothes until a specific deadline on Saturday.
The last date for applications for postal vote in the UK was 19 June. Those who had applied for long-term postal voting or before 7 June should have received their ballots by last week. However, many are unaware that if they applied after 7 June, their ballots might be posted in a second batch and are only being dispatched in recent days. This delay is inconvenient as the Scottish school term ends earlier compared to the rest of the UK, and people had started leaving for their summer holidays before receiving their postal ballots.
For those still in the country without their voting papers, replacement packages could be obtained from council offices during the next week. People who are worried about the postal deadlines for the return of their voting papers could hand them in at nearby council offices or wait until polling day while they visit their local polling station.
The Electoral Management Board for Scotland (EMB), the group that coordinates and supports local council activities, stated that there had been “various difficulties” in the delivery of postal votes. The Royal Mail investigated concerns about the delivery of postal votes, but discovered that there are no backlogs anywhere in Scottish offices. The EMB has urged a “significant review of capacity and systems” because of the general election on 4 July.
EMB Secretary Chris Highcock stated that even though constrained deadlines were manageable, timing the election at a period where many Scottish voters were taking vacations exacerbated the issue. Highcock also reiterated that secure printing facilities had to be used for all materials, which delayed things somewhat. Overall, Mr Highcock was hopeful that all eligible voters could participate in the general election.
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