Election fears growing over postal votes
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DELAYED postal votes continue to be a concern in Kirklees as the clock ticks down to the local elections tomorrow.
Council insiders say thousands of votes have been mailed to voters in two batches – but that the second batch has been delayed.
Now staff at Kirklees Council are working overtime to ensure people who have flagged non-delivery are issued with replacement postal ballots.
But there are still fears that some votes could be lost.
The Examiner understands that more than 66,000 postal votes were mailed out on April 21, followed by a smaller number ‘nowhere near as big’ on April 26.
It is that second raft of votes that has been affected.
A council source said: “The council are doing everything they can.
“All the votes have left Election Services. They have been passed on to Royal Mail, so it appears to be an issue with them.” Problems with non-delivery of postal ballots have been reported in Almondbury, Cleckheaton, Denby Dale and Lindley wards.
Council insiders have pointed to a ‘disconnect’ between votes leaving the authority and arriving with voters.
One voter who raised the nondelivery of postal votes as an issue was Jax Lovelock, who lives in Dewsbury.
She has been assured by Kirklees Council that anyone who reports missing papers will be issued with replacements.
To achieve that council staff have been personally delivering new voting papers over the bank holiday weekend.
Ms Lovelock said: “There is an issue. They don’t know how big it is. [The council] is trying to put things in place so that people who can’t get into Huddersfield for whatever reason will still get their votes.” One council source said: “It won’t affect everyone but the people that it does affect have a right to be very cross about it.
“If there’s a few hundred votes affected then that would be an issue.”
Conservative councillor Bernard McGuin, who is defending a tiny majority in Almondbury, said he had received ‘loads of phone calls’ from residents frustrated over non-arrival of postal votes.
He said: “As the Tories usually do well from postal votes, I admit to a fear of losing votes.”
A Royal Mail spokesman said: “We have confirmed to them that we have delivered all the mail items related to postal votes that have been handed over to us. We stand ready to help in any way we can.”
As Tories usually do well from postal votes, I admit to a fear of
losing votes