SOME people in Cornwall, who have chosen to vote by post, still haven’t received their postal ballot with one day to go until the election. There are fears some postal votes won’t be counted in time as a result.

A number of people have contacted the local media expressing that they haven’t received their ballot and had been told it was due to a double whammy of the election being called at short notice and increased demand for postal votes compared with previous elections.

A student in Truro, who still hadn’t received her postal voting pack on Friday, said she was in the fortunate position of being able to visit County Hall in Truro to pick up a replacement. “Lots of people won’t be able to get there because of physical disabilities or they’re not in the country, away for work, etc, and won’t be able to vote. Even if they get them by Tuesday they might not arrive in time by post.”

She says that according to the Cornwall Council election hotline the delay is the fault of the government because it called the election at short notice. She was told by a council worker that the last batch were only posted on Wednesday, June 26.

The advice she received from the council was to wait a couple of days and if she hadn’t received it by Monday to go in and get another one. However, she’s concerned that once posted it won’t make the election deadline.

Last Thursday, a concerned Caroline Barnett, who lives on the Isles of Scilly, tweeted: “Has anyone else not received their postal vote? I’ve just spoken with Cornwall Council and was told one batch of postal votes had been sent out on Friday 21 and the other batch only yesterday on Wednesday 26!”

Eddie Mayhew, of Lostwithiel, told the BBC: “I applied for a postal vote on May 28/29 and heard nothing. Then ten days ago I phoned the electoral office and was told unfortunately there were far more people applying for postal votes than there had been in previous times. This would take a longer period to process.”

He finally received his postal vote last Wednesday and posted it straight back. “If the last batch of ballot papers was going out in the middle of last week, people wouldn’t be getting them until the end of last week, over the weekend or possibly not even until today. Post them first class today and if my experience is anything to go by, it will only get there by the skin of its teeth for the Thursday vote to count.”

Christine in Bude still hasn’t had hers through two days before polling day. “I’m a bit worried I won’t be able to vote in the election. I would like Cornwall Council tell us what is our position if Thursday arrives and we still haven’t received our ballot paper.”

Cornwall Council denies that the last batch were sent out on Wednesday, June 26, saying they were sent out by first class post on Monday, June 24. A spokesperson said: “Anyone who registered to vote by post for the upcoming General Election should have received their postal voting packs. There are 84,520 voters registered to vote by post in Cornwall. This is an increase of around 11,000 since the General Election was announced.

“Candidate nominations for the General Election closed at 4pm on Friday, June 7. Ballot papers could only be finalised and sent to print after that date. All postal vote packs are personalised and we have to carry out the necessary security checks. This process does take time. The last batch was sent out by first class Royal Mail delivery on Monday, June 24.”

Anyone who is registered to vote by post and has not received their postal voting pack should contact Cornwall Council’s elections team on 01872 324196 or email [email protected]

If you are concerned that your postal vote will not be returned by July 4, you can take your completed ballot to your designated polling station. You will not be required to show Voter ID.

In another confusing development, a number of people who applied to be proxy voters on behalf of others who are unable to vote personally in the General Election received the authorisation letter from Cornwall Council … for the Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall Police election, which took place on May 2.

A spokesperson for the council said: “A letter which included details of the Police and Crime Commission Election instead of the upcoming General Election was sent to some proxy voters. Letters with the correct information have since been re-sent to those affected. We apologise for any confusion this may have caused.”