Council investigates as postal vote problems leave ballots undelivered

A council says it is "urgently" investigating reports that some people who applied for postal voting have not yet received their ballot papers ahead of Thursday's Senedd election.

Cardiff Council said replacement voting packs would be hand delivered to the remaining affected households on Tuesday, with a small number reissued by priority mail.

Cardiff resident Ian Cottrell said he was "disappointed and angry" that his postal vote had not arrived in time before he went abroad, leaving him unable to vote.

The Electoral Commission said affected voters should follow Cardiff Council's advice, adding that it was working to establish whether any other council areas were affected by postal vote delays.

Ian, 52, said this election would mark the first time he was unable to vote since 1992.

Knowing he would be on holiday on the date of the Senedd election, Ian said he sorted out the paperwork in advance but became worried when his postal vote did not arrive.

He said he received no communication from the council about delays.

"My democratic right to vote has been taken away from me by a quite obviously ineffective process," he said.

"I am also disappointed and angry that Cardiff Council have not communicated any delays. I have found out everything via social media."

Cardiff Council said it had has issued almost 47,000 postal vote packs and more than 26,500 had already been returned.

"We have been working urgently to investigate the issue and have identified that the affected packs relate to a supplementary print run for the Caerdydd Ffynnon Taf and Caerdydd Penarth constituencies," it said.

"We have received assurances from our print provider, Civica, that the relevant data was received correctly from the council and that the packs were printed and dispatched to Royal Mail, who continue to investigate."

The council added that "a number" of postal vote packs had been reissued and further replacements would be hand-delivered on Tuesday, with "a small number" sent out again by mail.

"Voters who receive a replacement pack can complete it and either return it to our staff at the time of delivery, hand it in at any polling station before 10pm on Thursday, or deliver it to County Hall before 10pm on polling day.

"We regret any inconvenience experienced and are focused on ensuring all those affected are able to vote."

Royal Mail said the matter had been looked into and all items had been processed and delivered.

It added: "There are no outstanding postal ballot packs at delivery offices in CF postcode area."

The Electoral Commission said it was aware of "issues with the delivery of some postal votes in Cardiff".

It said: "The local elections team and Royal Mail are working to send the final packs out as soon as possible and affected voters should follow the advice provided by Cardiff Council.

"If there are individual cases where a voter has not yet received their postal ballot pack, they should immediately request a replacement from Cardiff Council."

The commission said it was also "consulting with Returning Officers and the Electoral Management Board for Wales to establish if any other local authorities have been affected by postal vote delays".

The Liberal Democrats said they had spoken to a number of people affected in the Caerdydd Ffynnon Taf constituency, adding "the system has let them down".

Plaid Cymru said the situation was "extremely worrying" and urged "anyone who has not received their postal vote pack to contact their local council immediately".

Welsh Labour said the situation was "very concerning" adding that the council must ensure "[the postal ballots] are returned in good time to be counted".

The Welsh Conservatives said "the failure to ensure that all the postal votes were delivered is deeply concerning".

Reform dubbed the matter "completely unacceptable" adding that "people who have postal votes should not be disenfranchised".

The Greens have been approached for comment.