The government is “urgently” investigating delays to postal ballots being delivered, a minister has said.
Kevin Hollinrake, the postal affairs minister, has criticised Royal Mail for apparently failing to deliver some votes in time for the election.
Amid reports of thousands of ballots not being delivered in time, Hollinrake has been calling on Royal Mail “to do all they can” to make sure postal votes arrive by the deadline.
It came as Scotland’s first minister John Swinney warned that some could be “disenfranchised” if their postal votes cannot be filled out and returned on time.
Voters in Scotland have reported still not having received their ballots with days to go until July 4, with some now overseas.
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According to reports, some 2,600 postal votes were also reportedly sent out late in Essex’s Uttlesford District Council, whose chief executive apologised for the delay caused by “human error”.
Speaking on Tuesday morning, health minister Maria Caulfield told Sky News she is aware of “a number of” constituencies where people have not yet received their postal votes.
She said: “Kevin [Hollinrake] is taking this very seriously. He’s in direct contact with the Royal Mail.
“It doesn’t seem to be an issue in my constituency, but I know a number of colleagues where people haven’t received their postal votes and are worried about that. Kevin is investigating this urgently. 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.
“If people have only just received their postal vote, they can take it to their polling station on election day and it will still be counted.”
It has been reported that voters across 90 constituencies have voiced concerns over delays.
Issues have been blamed on a short turnaround time for processing applications, problems with printers and issues with Royal Mail deliveries.
On Monday, Downing Street played down the issue, claiming that Number 10 is “aware of some concerns”.
Sunak’s official spokesman told reporters on Monday: “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.
“And anyone who hasn’t received their postal ballot yet may want to contact their returning officer or arrange for it to be reissued, or to arrange for an alternative avenue to cast their ballot.”
The deadline to register to vote by post was 19 June, with ballots normally arriving around a week before polling day.
Local councils are responsible for sending postal ballot forms to voters.
Postal votes have to arrive by 10pm on polling day.
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