Missing postal votes ‘could mean people can’t vote in the election’, fears local candidate

The Labour candidate vying to become Burnham-On-Sea’s next MP has expressed his concern that a number of local residents may miss the opportunity to vote in Thursday’s general election due to the late dispatch of postal votes.

Leigh Redman is standing for election in the new Bridgwater and Burnham seat on July 4th against Claire Sully (Liberal Democrats), Ashley Fox (Conservatives), William Fagg (Reform), Pelé Barnes (Independent), Charles Graham (Green Party) and Gregory Tanner (Workers Party).

Leigh says he became aware of the issue when a number of residents in the new Bridgwater constituency reached out, worried about missing postal ballots before they leave for pre-booked holidays.

He said: “I have been in contact with a number of residents who applied for postal ballots, due to the short notice election announcement and in advance of pre-booked holidays, but now due to late despatch of their ballots, they will miss out on the chance to vote in this important election. This is a great concern for me, as voters will miss out on voting despite following due process.”

“Given that we have had a 6 week election campaign, it is very worrying that there has been such a delay in the dispatch of postal votes. It is unacceptable that the last batch of postal ballots were so delayed, as they now appear to be caught in a Royal Mail backlog and there is a real chance that a number of residents in the new constituency will be deprived of a chance to vote in a hugely important election.”

A Somerset Council spokesperon says: “Some residents will have already received theirs, but with increased numbers of people asking for postal votes, Somerset Council are still working through the requests. So, there is no need for concern if you haven’t received yours yet.”

“Postal votes receive a speedy service from Royal Mail and are easily identified by the purple flashes marked on the envelopes to avoid delays.”

“They are delivered up to 9.30pm on polling day which is why posting them back via the Royal Mail is the preferred method of returning them.”