General Election 2017: Residents raise concerns over missing postal ballots

Voters go to the polls tomorrow.

A number of Hackney residents have taken to Twitter to complain they are still waiting for their postal ballots for tomorrow’s General Election.

With the vote just hours away, one expressed concern that the issue might be “widespread”.

2 days til the election and still no sign of my postal vote ballot paper from @hackneycouncil . Wonder if this is widespread problem.

— Jon Donnison (@jondonnisonbbc) June 6, 2017

BBC correspondent Jon Donnison tweeted: “Two days until the election and still no sign of my postal vote ballot paper from Hackney Council . Wonder if this is widespread problem.”

Another resident, Maddie Taylor Wilson, said she has been told there is nothing she can do now because she is out of the country, despite “flagging it as an issue last week”.

Many thanks to @hackneycouncil for messing up my postal vote so I won’t be able to vote in the election. 👌🏼top notch

— Maddie Taylor Wilson (@maddiectw) June 6, 2017

Wilson said on Twitter: “Many thanks to Hackney Council for messing up my postal vote so I won’t be able to vote in the election. Top notch.”

Ahead of last year’s mayoral election, the council was forced to delay sending out postal ballots for four days after the word “Conservative” was misspelt.

Commenting on the recent flurry of complaints, the Town Hall’s returning officer Tim Shields said: “The council has issued over 30,000 postal votes. These were sent out in batches according to when the application was received – details of posting dates are available on our website. All of these deadlines were met.

“The Royal Mail’s delivery rate is 93 per cent by the next working day – and as with any mail-out of this size, unfortunately some do go missing, which is why, in our postal vote confirmation letter, we advise residents to contact us if they have not received their postal ballot by 2 June, to enable us to reissue it.”

Shields said anyone who has lost, misplaced or not received their postal ballot can pick up a replacement at Hackney Town Hall until 5pm tomorrow.

The council did not provide figures when asked how many complaints had been made about missing postal ballots via all methods of communication.