It comes after islanders eligible for overseas voting during the UK general election yesterday raised concerns that their ballot papers would not arrive in time to be counted due to postal delays.
Ahead of last night’s vote, people across the Channel Islands reported delays in receiving their postal ballot packs, with others saying that their filled-out forms would not be delivered back to their constituencies before the 22:00 deadline.
A spokesperson from the electoral commission yesterday said that the Royal Mail was carrying out sweeps to pick up postal votes and ensure they were delivered in time for the count.
The spokesperson continued: “The Commission will be collecting evidence about the experience of postal voters and will look at the issue as part of our post-poll reporting.
“Following the 2019 election, we made recommendations to the UK government to consider innovative new approaches to voting for overseas voters.”
Five Channel Islands politicians are currently in the UK as part of a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Election Observation Mission to scrutinise the election process.
Their initial findings will be made public in a preliminary statement at 16:00 today, and may address some of the issues impacting overseas voters.
READ MORE…
Postal vote delays frustrate islanders ahead of UK general election