Post sends off UK election ballots the day it gets them

Thousands of island residents were eligible to vote in the election, after the UK removed a ‘15 year rule’ this year, which meant people were now able to vote in UK elections more than 15 years after they left the country.

They need to have registered to vote in the last constituency they were resident in, and will have had the option to either have someone else vote for them using a proxy vote or have a postal ballot paper sent to them.

A Guernsey Post spokeswoman said all postal ballot packs sent from the UK to Guernsey were delivered to local addresses upon receipt.

‘Any completed postal ballot forms returning to the UK from Guernsey are dispatched the same day they are posted,’ she said.

‘They are sent by plane that evening and integrated into the Royal Mail network for onward delivery.’

There have reportedly been problems with some postal ballots going to Europe and the UK, but it is unclear what has caused the issue. The Electoral Commission plans to investigate postal vote administration after the election.

One Guernsey woman said she received her ballot on Monday, but it was posted on 25 June.

‘I’ve lived here for 20 years. This was the first time I’ve done a postal vote since I thought after 15 years [out of the UK] you weren’t allowed to,’ said the woman, who asked not to be named.

‘I applied a month or so ago and had an email acknowledgement.’

But when her ballot did not arrive she chased it up last week.

‘I got it this morning [Monday] and I’ve had to pay £9.80 to send it special delivery to get there in time.’

However, another UK voter in Guernsey said they had received their postal ballot more than two weeks ago.

The Guardian states that postal voters constitute more than a fifth of the UK electorate.

Postal votes need to have been received by the elections team by 10pm on Thursday – voting day.