Woman angry over losing right to vote

A woman and her husband say they are angry about losing the chance to vote in the general election due to problems with postal votes.

Sherry Morrison, from Dawlish on Devon’s south coast, said she did not receive her postal vote before she went on holiday on Friday.

Mrs Morrison received confirmation from Teignbridge District Council of her postal vote request on 13 June but did not get a postal ballot.

Teignbridge District Council, which is responsible for the postal votes in the area, said “a high number” of people were calling in about ballots not turning up.

Mrs Morrison said: “I’ve voted in every general election since I’ve been able to, so has my husband, and I think it’s unfair that we’ve been denied our vote.

“We’ve lost our right to vote and the system has let us down.”

Teignbridge District Council posted a message on Facebook, which said it was “receiving a high number of calls” from people who had not received their postal ballot.

It said the ballots “were issued to the Post Office first class on Friday 21 June”.

The Post Office said Royal Mail was responsible for all deliveries.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said it worked closely with local authorities on elections deliveries “to ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible”.

It said: “We have investigated concerns with the delivery of postal votes in Devon and Cornwall and found one isolated incidence of delay but no wider issues.

“This delay is being rectified and postal votes are continuing to be delivered as ordered.”

The council asked anyone who had not received their voting pack to get in touch about collecting a replacement ballot.