Scottish election officials doing ‘all we can’ amid postal vote delays

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Officials in Scotland have said they are doing "all we can" to ensure every voter can take part in the General Election amid delays in people receiving their postal votes.It comes after furious Scots complained that their "right to vote has been stolen" due to postal ballot chaos.

Many people who have applied for general election postal votes have not yet received them. Scottish First Minister John Swinney said on Friday that he was worried some Scots would be "disenfranchised" by delays due to school holidays beginning north of the border.Two councils - Edinburgh City Council and Fife Council - took the unusual step of setting up emergency centres where residents who have yet to receive their ballot can have one reissued, or can even cast their vote ahead of July 4.Chris Highcock, secretary of the Electoral Management Board for Scotland, said the number of postal voters had increased "significantly" in recent years.He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I think the first thing we have to say is that the logistical timetable that we have to operate to for any UK election is already very tight.

That's been exacerbated in Scotland at this time, as many families have planned to be away on holiday."All materials are prepared in secure print facilities, they have to be then transported to the voter."The timetable is such that we're only able to prepare ballot papers once we know who's going to be on the ballot paper for UK elections."We're doing all we can to ensure that every voter that's entitled to vote in this election is able to take part - councils right across Scotland, and indeed the UK are taking measures to make sure that if any postal votes haven't been received, voters can collect replacement ballot papers and