Ex-Commando fuming over lost voting document
AFORMER Royal Marine fighting cancer for the fifth time is planning to hand in his replacement postal vote in person after the original was among a batch not fully delivered in Runcorn.
Earle Ryan, 80, said he no longer trusted the system to ensure his ballot arrived with officials for the General Election count, taking place today.
Mr Ryan discovered that his postal vote’s delivery had gone awry after receiving a letter from the Weaver Vale constituency counting authority Cheshire West And Chester Council (CWAC) informing him that a ‘small number of postal packs have not been delivered in your area’.
CWAC’s message said the pack was sent first class to him on Friday, May 26, and that if he had not received it then he should make contact to order a replacement.
The former Commando said he has been left wondering whether ‘interference’ is to blame, adding that the experience has eroded his confidence in the system and that he now planned to drop it off by hand at a polling station.
He said he learned while speaking to CWAC’s election department that up to 400 addresses were due to receive the packs in his area as part of the delivery.
It is not known exactly how many householders in Beechwood received their postal votes.
Mr Ryan said older voters were more likely to be affected.
He added that the letter was not dated and referred to him by his first name instead of ‘Mr Ryan’, which came across as rude and unprofessional.
A CWAC spokesman said the council had received reports, including from a husband and wife who lived under the same roof but who had only received one postal vote between them.
He said that showed they ‘had left the printers, which would suggest there’s an issue with mailing’.
The spokesman added that CWAC had contacted Royal Mail but had no reply. It is not the first time residents have reported issues going awry in Beechwood during a General Election.
In 2015, Joseph Whyte, the Trade Unionist And Socialist Coalition candidate for Weaver Vale, and also a Beechwood resident, said thousands of flyers he had paid for, handed over to Royal Mail for delivery, and for which he said he receive the receipt, never made it to their intended destination including in his own street.
Recounting the experience on Monday, he said he checked with friends in other parts of Weaver Vale including Frodsham and Northwich and found none had received their flyers.
He added that his wife had experienced difficulty in registering him as a proxy vote for this Thursday’s election, with conflicting messages about whether it needed to be registered with the local authority that governs where he lives, Halton Council, or with the authority administering the Weaver Vale count, CWAC. Mr Ryan said the person he spoke at CWAC said they had received 22 calls about their postal vote not arriving.
A spokesman for the agency said it was satisfied that steps were being taken to resolve any issues including delivering replacement postal votes door-to-door and waiting for them to be filled in to ensure householders can vote with maximum convenience.
Speaking on Monday, Mr Ryan said he will hand it in himself.
He said: “I have asked for my replacement pack.
“I don’t feel confident that if I get a replacement pack I can feel safe sending it back. I’ve no faith in the postal system.
“My postal pack is going to be hand-delivered and then when I’ve completed it I will take it to the polling booth.”
The Electoral Commission spokesman said: “The Electoral Commission has been made aware that some of the 400 postal ballots sent out to voters in Beechwood ward did not arrive and we are satisfied with the steps the returning officer has taken to contact postal voters in the ward and provide replacement ballots and advice where needed.
“If you require any further information, please contact Cheshire West And Chester directly.
“The Royal Mail is not regulated by the Commission, so any complaints or questions anyone has about their service should be addressed to them or to Ofcom as the relevant regulator.”
The Weekly News contacted Royal Mail for comment. ●