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British expats say they feel “disenfranchised” after failing to receive their ballot papers in time to vote in Thursday’s general election.
All British citizens living abroad who have previously been resident or registered to vote in the UK are entitled to take part in Thursday’s national poll, following the removal of a 15-year-limit on voting rights.
To do so, they had to choose between a postal or proxy vote. But a number of people who opted for postal votes said they did not receive their ballots in time.
Some people in Britain have also missed out due to delays receiving their postal votes.
Earlier this week, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “We’re working closely with the Electoral Commission, returning officers, Royal Mail and the print suppliers to support the resolution of these issues.”
As Britain went to the polls on Thursday, Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch attacked the local council in her North West Essex seat for having “potentially disenfranchised” thousands of postal voters who have not received their ballots.
The Cabinet minister said up to 2,600 voters were affected by Uttlesford District Council “forgetting” to send them their postal votes.
One expat voter, John Baker, who has lived in Portugal for 20 years, told The National his ballot arrived on Wednesday, just a day ahead of the election. He said he feels “disenfranchised”.
“They said all the postal votes would be out by June 20. I thought it would be tight but I could look into sending it back via express post. But I only received it yesterday,” he said.
“I looked into sending it back via FedEx or DHL but it was too expensive.
“Peter Kyle is my MP [in Hove and Portslade] and it looks like he will get in anyway. But I wanted to vote.”
Janet Wertli, who has lived in Zurich, Switzerland, for around 11 years, did not receive her postal vote, either, so she cannot cast her vote for the Liberal Democrats.
“I applied for it just before the deadline which was around June 18 because I’m registered in Bromley for voting in Eltham and Chislehurst,” said Ms Wertli, who has also lived in Hong Kong, Singapore and New York.
“I kept watching the Bromley website to see when they were posting them out because I was in Scotland over the weekend, so the idea was that I could take it with me to the UK, post it when I was there and it would definitely arrive in time.”
She said organisation surrounding postal voting should have been better.
“It’s not the first time we’ve had an election in the UK and it’s not the first time there have been postal votes, and for the people who say it was such a rush to get organised, it was not,” she added.
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“It’s not rocket science – we’re just sending out polling cards.”
The Eltham and Chislehurst constituency is the responsibility of the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
A spokesperson from Greenwich Council said: “We encourage overseas voters to apply for their postal votes early, or register for a proxy vote, to allow enough time for airmail to arrive and be sent back.
“In this instance, Ms Wertli applied for a postal vote from an international address around four weeks after the general election was announced. Unfortunately, we cannot control postal or airmail delays.”
Updated: July 04, 2024, 3:01 PM
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