Council outlines steps being taken to tackle national postal vote delays

Published: 28 June 2024

The Council is taking urgent steps to ensure all residents, where possible, can cast their vote in next Thursday's UK Parliamentary General Election.

The distribution of postal votes nationally has been hit by delays, but the Royal Mail has confirmed that all packs should be delivered today or tomorrow.

The Council has been collating a list of people who have reported that they have not yet received their postal voting packs. The Council will be delivering replacement packs over the weekend to those who have already been in touch.

Our election email and phone line will also be available over the weekend for new reports of issues with postal packs and to request a replacement pack for one that has not arrived by the Saturday post.

We're prioritising those who will not be at home next week. If you will be at home next week, please wait for delivery and only contact us early next week if you are still without your pack.

Please note that packs can only be issued to those who have registered to vote by post within the national deadlines and have been approved by the Electoral Registration Office. The Council cannot legally issue anything beyond this.

Whilst we understand people's frustrations at the national delays, we would ask that callers are respectful to our staff who are working very hard to ensure that everyone registered can cast their vote. These delays and issues are national ones and have not resulted from local processes.

Please contact electionoffice@eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk in the first instance or call the helpline on 0141 577 3033, which will be staffed 9am-4pm on both Saturday and Sunday. We will have staff working over the weekend to deal with these enquiries and we will be doing deliveries across the weekend and into Monday.

If a voter is going on holiday on Sunday or Monday morning and calls us before 3pm on Saturday on the number above, we can make arrangements for them to come to Council Headquarters in Giffnock, by appointment, with photographic ID, to collect a postal pack which can be completed and returned there and then.

If you have concerns about getting your completed postal votes back to us in time for Thursday's election, please remember these may be handed in at Council HQ during office hours on weekdays, or can be returned to any polling place on the day of the election. Please note that, due to a change of national procedures, anyone handing in a completed postal vote will require to complete an additional Postal Vote Handling Form, which our staff will help you with when you arrive.