I have been hearing from a number of voters who opted to vote by post and have not yet received their ballot papers. As you may have heard from the local media, it appears that a number of voting packs have gone missing in the post.
Plymouth City Council are taking this issue very seriously and have provided the following statement on what anyone who is concerned should do to ensure they are able to vote on Thursday. This is an updated statement from that published yesterday:
Postal votes in Plymouth
We are continuing to do everything we can to ensure the 1,510 people in Plymouth who did not receive their postal vote pack are able to vote.
We have already delivered replacement postal voting packs to more than half of those who hadn’t received one and are making special deliveries this morning to the remainder of people whose postal addresses are in the three constituencies.
We are also making arrangements to get postal vote packs to as many people as possible who have a postal address outside the three constituencies.
Anyone who applied for a postal vote and did not receive their postal vote pack before going away should ring us.
People receiving their postal vote packs today can return their ballots by:
- Post – all ballots must be received by 10pm on Thursday
- Bringing them to the Council House where polling booths have been set up
- Taking them to a polling station in one of the three constituencies on Thursday.
If anyone who applied for a postal vote has not received a pack by lunchtime on Wednesday, or has any queries about postal voting, they should contact us on 304866 or 304936. Lines are open between 7am and 10pm.
Replacement postal vote packs can also be issued from the Council House and we ask that people phone before arriving.
We can issue replacement post voting packs until 5pm on polling day (Thursday), which is the legal deadline. All ballot papers issued must be received back by 10pm on Thursday.
We apologise to anyone affected by this problem. We will continue to do everything possible to ensure people who applied to vote by post can do so.
Anyone who cannot make it to the Council House (next to the old Civic Centre in Armada Way) to pick up a replacement pack can nominate someone to collect it for them. Anyone doing this will be asked to provide identification.
IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED FOR NOMINATED PEOPLE
Anyone collecting a replacement postal vote pack will need to bring ID.
Anyone who is not a close family member who has been nominated to collect a pack on behalf of someone else will need to bring an ID for the postal voter with them to the Council House. They will also need a letter from the postal voter confirming they have been nominated to collect it on their behalf.
This should be worded: ‘I …………………………. (insert name of voter) give authority to ………………………… (insert collector’s name) to show my ID to a Council Official at the Council House and collect my replacement postal vote pack.’
Signed
Print name
Where possible it is best to phone in advance of coming to the Council House so we get the necessary paperwork ready.
If you continue to face problems, please feel free to contact my office.