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Original poster

To complain DD has been denied a vote in Cambridge?

146 replies

Novote · 11/12/2019 13:13

NC'd to avoid outing.
DD is at uni in Cambridge- she is on the electoral roll in Cambridge (not here at home) and applied for a postal vote before the deadline as she is now back home for the holidays.
No postal ballot arrived. She phone Cambridge council who said it was not actioned and they can't find the e-mail.
She has shown me the e-mail (with scanned form attachment) - it was indeed sent before the deadline and must have arrived as it was in the 'sent' folder and she did not receive a 'delivery failure' e-mail.

Cambridge City Council has been having intermittent e-mail problems (according to their website). The guy in the elections team basically did an apologetic shrug on the phone.

Is there anything DD can do to still vote? We are over 200 miles from Cambridge.
This would be her first general election and she (and I) feel angry that she did everything properly and is being denied her vote.

OP posts:
Luckylassiam · 11/12/2019 17:33

Labour won’t want voter I.d as then the students wouldn’t be able to vote twice. He loves a bit of fraud , he does

Original poster
Novote · 11/12/2019 17:37

@bridgetreilly That is a little harsh- she is 18 so no previous experience, and I have never needed a postal vote so don't know anything about the process, e.g. what they look like (is it identified as a ballot paper on the envelope?), or the timescale in which they are supposed to arrive (does it say somewhere that you should contact the council if you haven't received it by x date?).
She did take responsibility herself by registering to vote on time (she is successfully on the electoral roll), and then applied for a postal vote on time (she is not however registered for a postal vote). There was a pile of letters waiting for her when she came back but the postal vote wasn't one of them.

@DarlingNikita Unfortunately I don't think so now- she does feel very strongly about this but £100 is a lot for a student, not to mention over 11 hours travelling (she looked at the trains- it is 5h 40 each way).

I hope the result in Cambridge is not too close. I wonder how many other people have been affected in this way.

OP posts:
BovaryX · 11/12/2019 17:41

but students can be registered both at home and at university - mine is and has received a poll card for both locations

What is to stop a student registered in two different locations with two poll cards voting twice?

ChristmasSpirtsOnTheRocksPleas · 11/12/2019 17:42

Tell her to call them back and demand to speak to the most senior person available saying that she will take legal action. Tell them that she will launch a judicial review of their decision to deny her a proxy vote and it will be all over the press. It’s amazing how well the threat of judicial scrutiny works on public servants.

VirginiaCreeper · 11/12/2019 17:45

Well, hopefully it's taught her that she needs to take responsibility for her vote, and that if she doesn't get her postal vote in good time, to chase that up much sooner. The day before the election, there's virtually nothing anyone can do about it.
It is a bit harsh OP, and yet she presumably travelled home very recently and could have chased it up while still in Cambridge.

Are you certain she isn't still registered to vote at home?

Janus · 11/12/2019 17:48

Labour won’t want voter I.d as then the students wouldn’t be able to vote twice. He loves a bit of fraud , he does
Really? Cash strapped students will travel hours just to vote twice?? What utter nonsense.

Wtfdoipick · 11/12/2019 17:49

There was a pile of letters waiting for her when she came back but the postal vote wasn't one of them.

Did she apply for the postal vote to arrive at home or at Cambridge?

Becca19962014 · 11/12/2019 17:52

notvote

Yes you are told when you apply by which date your ballot paper should arrive (it's clearly identified) and if it doesn't by then to contact them.

christmasspiritsontherocksplease

She doesn't meet the criteria for an emergency vote by proxy. There's nothing that can be done. It's legally set out what counts. She would have been told when applying when the form would arrive and if it did not to phone immediately. She didn't.

Sixgeese · 11/12/2019 17:52

I have a holiday home and am on the electoral register both there and at my home address, I get polling cards at both places BUT I only ever vote at our main home address, DH on the other hand votes once but where he feels his vote will count more, or holiday home is a marginal seat (but for the first time ever so is our home seat)

I am also the proxy vote for my friends who have been living abroad for the last 3 years. Not looking forward to it as our views are polar opposites, but they trust me to vote the way they want and I will carry out their wishes no matter how much it grates to do so.

Becca19962014 · 11/12/2019 17:53

notvote they won't send it to another address other than the one she has on the electoral register so it would have arrived in Cambridge anyway.

DeathStare · 11/12/2019 17:56

@Novote I did a very similar round trip to vote in my first General Election. It's something I am still proud of to this day.

Walkaround · 11/12/2019 18:06

Luckylassiam - if people are intent on spreading ridiculous conspiracy stories about mass electoral fraud by Momentum supporters, one could just as easily spread ridiculous conspiracy stories about the suspiciously high level of disenfranchisement of UK citizens living in EU countries and of students.

BovaryX · 11/12/2019 18:16

Why are Labour so opposed to voter ID?

bridgetreilly · 11/12/2019 18:27

Why are Labour so opposed to voter ID?

Because there is likely to be a much lower take up for people on low incomes, because there will be a cost involved. Lots of people who don't have driving licenses or passports, for example. Middle class voters will all be fine.

Obviously that affects Labour's likely vote disproportionately, but honestly it's something that all parties need to take seriously. Voter fraud is bad, of course, but voter ID could end up disenfranchising a LOT of people.

AnotherEmma · 11/12/2019 18:28

Probably for the reasons PP pointed out: some people don't have photo ID. And in addition to the general principle that making it harder for people to vote is a bad thing, those people are probably more likely to vote Labour than other parties.

(I still think it would be reasonable to ask for some form of ID - not necessarily photo ID - but I can see why it's not done.)

BovaryX · 11/12/2019 18:30

Voter fraud is bad, of course, but

But it benefits Labour, so they will resist any attempt to stop it

Random18 · 11/12/2019 18:32

I would drive her there. Don't let her vote go to waste

bridgetreilly · 11/12/2019 18:33

I still think it would be reasonable to ask for some form of ID - not necessarily photo ID - but I can see why it's not done.

I've never understood why you don't at least have to show your polling card. It's not a foolproof system against fraud, but it would help to prove that you at least live at the address it was sent to.

Biscuitsneeded · 11/12/2019 18:40

OP of course you shouldn't reveal here which way your DD wanted to vote, but if she wanted to vote anything other than Labour or Lib Dem it's not worth the journey as those are the only two candidates with a realistic chance in this constituency. If she cares deeply about one of the above winning over the other then that's very frustrating for her, I appreciate, but either way Cambridge won't be responsible if we wake up on Friday with 5 more years of the twat and his cronies so she shouldn't feel too bad about it.

Walkaround · 11/12/2019 18:46

BovaryX - that is a f*cking ridiculous comment. Electoral fraud is not limited to Labour voters, ffs. There are plenty of Conservative, Lib Dem, UKIP, etc, etc, supporters who are just as capable of and ready to commit electoral fraud.

PandaG · 11/12/2019 18:51

Whereabouts in the country are you? We are picking up DS from Cam tomorrow evening, leaving Sheffield 4.30pm ish, returning as soon as we have liaded the car. Would be happy to have a passenger both ways and wait while she votes!

BovaryX · 11/12/2019 19:00

Electoral fraud is not limited to Labour voters

Labour have steadfastly refused to do anything to address voter fraud. It is absurd that voter ID is not required to vote. The reason Labour resist any measures to prevent voter fraud is because they benefit from it If they thought it was benefiting the Tories? Voter ID would be at the top of their manifesto.

AnotherEmma · 11/12/2019 19:05

Personally I'm going to stop engaging with this because it's derailing the thread and will just go round in circles. Yawn.

SillyUnMurphy · 11/12/2019 19:06

Tell her to call them back and demand to speak to the most senior person available saying that she will take legal action. Tell them that she will launch a judicial review of their decision to deny her a proxy vote and it will be all over the press. It’s amazing how well the threat of judicial scrutiny works on public servants.

Hilarious! I have only ever seen this kind of ridiculous screeching hysteria on Mumsnet

DoTheHop · 11/12/2019 19:37

e.g. what they look like (is it identified as a ballot paper on the envelope?), or the timescale in which they are supposed to arrive (does it say somewhere that you should contact the council if you haven't received it by x

You get a sort of white post-card about a month before the election stating that you've elected for a postal vote. It gives dates on it, for which to contact your council if you haven't received your ballot paper.

Normally (never had a delay, so never needed to contact them), you'll then receive an A5 envelope. It contains an A4 type form which you fill in and you have to sign with your signature. It also contains the ballot paper. You then put the sheet and ballot into an envelope they send you too (pre-paid) with the warning to put it into the post asap as ballots not received by the deadline won't be counted.

So that's it:

Warning postcard: About 4 weeks prior to election
Ballot paper: About 2 weeks prior to election