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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to think the postal votes should have been sent out by now?

69 replies

KitKat1985 · 30/05/2017 16:26

So, I usually do postal voting as I historically work double shifts on a Thursday so no time to get to the polling booth on election days (which are always on a Thursday it seems). Usually this arrives 2-3 weeks before the election / referendum date. My postal vote this year still hasn't yet arrived, despite the election being next week. I phoned about it just now and he said they were still sending them out and I'd 'probably' get it in the next few days. AIBU to think this is a bit pants? What if I was going on a weeks holiday later on this week or something (which obviously a lot of people who will have applied for a postal vote this election may well be). You'd literally not be able to get the form in time before you left. It just seems a it rubbish. AIBU?

OP posts:

simplysleepy · 31/05/2017 09:24

Yep, I volunteer for my party across London and we've been told (directly by the gov election people) they were all finished being sent out about 2 weeks ago. You definitely should have received it about a week ago. I'd ring your local election branch

CatsRidingRollercoasters · 31/05/2017 09:57

Just spoke to my friend who is a local councillor. She said you can turn up at your local office and collect your postal vote. Obviously only do this if you're about to go on holiday or something as the staff certainly are under ridiculous pressure atm.

PigletWasPoohsFriend · 31/05/2017 09:58

PIL have had theirs and sent them back.

Hillarious · 31/05/2017 12:44

. . . you may be able to collect your postal vote if you turn up in person . . . as long as it's not already been posted out, of course.

Graphista · 31/05/2017 12:46

My local office said they would start sending out yesterday so still awaiting mine.

GingerHanna · 31/05/2017 12:51

DH and I live in the Netherlands and were warned by our local (UK) council that we may not get our postal votes in time to ensure they were sent back and arrived in time. Not their fault as it's a snap election but was a worry.

Thankfully they turned up over a week ago so we're both okay and have sent them back straight away. I am concerned though that quite a number of voters will miss out because of the tight timelines. It was really important for me to vote as I'm heavily impacted by Brexit as is DH and DC.

allwornout0 · 31/05/2017 12:57

My sister has received her first postal vote paper and is unsure if she needs to put the cross in the box with a pencil (like at the polling stations) or in black pen which it says to use when doing her signature.. or if it even makes any difference at all.
Must admit when I looked at the paper it didn't make it clear at all. (so if it's really obvious)

Graphista · 31/05/2017 13:15

That's mine just come through now. Completed and in bag ready to post

Original poster

KitKat1985 · 01/06/2017 13:51

Mine's still not through yet.

OP posts:

gwenneh · 01/06/2017 13:52

We've had ours and we're in the US.

TheLegendOfBeans · 01/06/2017 13:59

Haha Ginger my postal only arrived today and I've not even moved yet!

Hillarious · 01/06/2017 14:00

When did you apply, OP for the postal vote? Do you always have one or apply afresh for each election?

PigletWasPoohsFriend · 01/06/2017 14:04

I think they said that those that registered in May would receive polling cards this week. I assume it's he same for postals but don't know.

AnguaResurgam · 01/06/2017 14:11

It's a huge amount of work, yes, but it's a known procedure that needs to be activated, not something that needs innovation.

One limiting factor is that you cannot send ballot appears for printing until after the deadline for entering/withdrawing a candidate has passed. And that is always 4 weeks before the election.

Deadline for registering/cancelling a postal vote was 23 May, and some councils wait until that has passed to reconfim lists and start the actual mailings.

Hillarious · 01/06/2017 14:16

Mailing of postal votes is done in batches, not on an ad-hoc basis. There is a limited number of printing companies in the country who can do the printing, so your local authority is in the queue with other local authorities. If the system needs changing it's because of the volume of people opting to use a postal vote for their general convenience, rather than a total inability to make time to get to the polling station.

AudacityJones · 01/06/2017 14:18

We applied for ours just one day before the deadline (22nd May) and got it on Tuesday, sent it off yesterday.
Agree with you v frustrating for anyone travelling etc - but also appreciate how chaotic it must be for them. We had lots of issues with voter rolls during Brexit vote and won't be able to hang around and vote later if there's chaos again on the morning so decided to do postal votes.
On the plus side I can now completely tune out all the election related news and still think of myself as a good citizen ;)

Original poster

KitKat1985 · 01/06/2017 15:37

When did you apply, OP for the postal vote? Do you always have one or apply afresh for each election?

I applied a couple of years ago before the last GE to be registered for postal votes. When I phoned them earlier this week they have confirmed that they definitely have me down to have a postal vote, they just hadn't finished mailing them out yet.

OP posts:

Natsku · 01/06/2017 15:43

I got mine last week. I would not be happy about it taking this long, that's really cutting it close!

Rowgtfc72 · 01/06/2017 17:51

Got mine yesterday.

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