Britain’s electoral watchdog warned that the country’s postal voting system was facing “pressures” on Tuesday.
Scotland has been particularly affected by the hold up, with the July 4 poll taking place in the first week of the school holidays in the nation, meaning a higher than usual amount of people are expected to vote ahead of time.
The news prompted SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn to call for “huge reform” of the postal voting system.
Speaking to the BBC, he said the issues risk disenfranchising voters.
He said: “I see some individuals are blaming the Royal Mail but the reality is the system is not fit for purpose, and we need to see huge reform.
“We also need to see a big reflection on how we’ve managed to get into a situation where a prime minister can at his own whim declare an election, the Tories decided this was the way that they want the elections to operate in the UK.”
Some councils in Kent, Essex, and Devon in the south of England have also reported issues with late arrival of postal ballots.
Earlier on Tuesday, health minister Maria Caulfield said that the delays were being “urgently investigated” by the postal affairs minister Kevin Hollinrake in an interview with Sky News.
Ms. Caulfield said: “I know there’s extra resources going into this to try and do a sweep of all the sorting offices and make sure they’re out there.
Disenfranchisement
On Monday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was not concerned about disenfranchisement caused by delays to postal ballots ahead of Thursday’s vote.His official spokesman told reporters: “No. We are aware of some concerns around the printing and delivery of postal ballot packs in some local areas.
“We’re working closely with the Electoral Commission, returning officers, Royal Mail, and the print suppliers to support the resolution of these issues.
“We understand that the Royal Mail will also be conducting sweeps of their delivery system on polling day to make sure that any ballot packs still in the postal system are identified and passed to returning officers ahead of polls closing.”
Number 10 added that those who hadn’t received their ballot may want to contact their returning officer to ask for it to be reissued or apply for an emergency proxy vote.
According to the Electoral Commission, a voter can only apply for an emergency proxy if something unexpected prevents them from voting, such as a medical emergency, being away for work, or a lost or stolen voter ID.
A spokesperson for the watchdog told The Epoch Times: “The vast majority of postal votes have been delivered, with tens of thousands landing on doorsteps over the weekend. We are not aware of any outstanding large-scale issues.
“If there are individual cases where a voter has not yet received their postal ballot pack, they should request a replacement from their local authority.
“Voters can post their postal ballot until Wednesday, and we know the Royal Mail has plans in place to ensure all postal votes get delivered in time to be counted.
“Voters also have the option to hand it in on polling day, or also ask someone to hand their ballot pack in on their behalf.
“Voters can hand in a maximum of five postal ballots in addition to their own, and will be required to complete a form at the polling station when doing so.”
A spokesperson for Royal Mail told reporters: “We have no backlog of postal votes and, whilst we are not complacent, we remain confident that postal votes handed to us on time will be delivered prior to polling day.
“Where specific concerns have been raised, we have investigated and confirmed ballot packs are being delivered as soon as they arrive in our network.
“We would welcome a review into the timetable for future elections with all stakeholders to ensure that the system for printing and administering postal votes before they are handed to Royal Mail works as smoothly as possible.”
Responsibility for sending out postal ballot forms rests on local councils.
Completed postal votes must have reached councils by 10 p.m. on July 4.
