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Postal voting has begun😮

(61 Posts)
Whitewavemark2 Mon 17-Jun-24 14:58:21

I didn’t realise it would be this early.

Blimey.

The starter gun has been fired.

Parsley3 Mon 17-Jun-24 15:02:14

I have mine ready to go.

LizzieDrip Mon 17-Jun-24 15:07:16

Yes! And apparently a significant number of people are still NOT registered to vote at all 😱 They only have until midnight tomorrow to register. I guess some people aren’t bothered about it as much as we are🤷‍♀️

grandMattie Mon 17-Jun-24 15:12:06

What a shame! After so much trouble, blood, sweat and tears to gain the universal vote.

I bet if people were told they would be able to vote at the next election if they didn’t at this one…

LizzieDrip Mon 17-Jun-24 15:15:44

There are many people across the world who would give anything to have the right to vote and elect the people in power. I know our system isn’t perfect but to just not bother is shameful!

Germanshepherdsmum Mon 17-Jun-24 15:21:55

I rarely agree with you Lizzie - but spot on.

LizzieDrip Mon 17-Jun-24 15:25:34

Across the UK, potentially as many as 8 million people are not correctly registered at their current address (the research estimated a range of around 7-8 million people not correctly registered on the local government registers in December 2022)

This is from an Electoral Registry report, 2023.

Hopefully, lots of that 8 million will have got their act together and registered by now🤞

The report goes on to say that apparently ‘registering to vote is not high on people’s agendas’. I bet it bloomin’ would be if they weren’t allowed to voteangry

Germanshepherdsmum Mon 17-Jun-24 15:27:22

I bet moaning about whatever government they get foisted on them by those who do vote will be high on their agendas.

Jane43 Mon 17-Jun-24 15:27:58

I posted ours at lunch time.

LizzieDrip Mon 17-Jun-24 15:27:59

Yah, there you go GSM. We might disagree politically (which is fine) but we do agree that democracy is precioussmile

Germanshepherdsmum Mon 17-Jun-24 15:28:42

We do. 👍🏻

Mamardoit Mon 17-Jun-24 16:45:49

We will go in person to vote. I'm still undecided and I don't like the idea of voting early. .

Witzend Mon 17-Jun-24 17:36:27

I’m glad there’s the option of postal voting, but I do always like voting in person - the little booth, the stubby pencil on a piece of string, X in the box….

And I’m really glad we don’t have electronic voting, like they do in the US - I don’t think I’d trust it to be hack-proof. Plus, from all I gather from sister in the US, polling stations are proportionately quite a lot fewer compared to population numbers - presumably because of the cost of the equipment - so there are often really long queues and people having to wait for an hour or more.
I don’t know about anybody else, but we’ve never had to queue to vote.

welbeck Mon 17-Jun-24 17:41:30

i think i'll do belt and braces again; take my postal ballot and hand it in at any polling station.
i had to fill in a form last time, but not sure if that was because i was also delivering someone else's postal vote.
that won't apply now, sadly. she died.

Tizliz Mon 17-Jun-24 18:43:46

We had a letter saying the postal vote papers will be sent out next week - waste of money or a reassurance that we haven't been forgotten?

Dinahmo Mon 17-Jun-24 19:04:46

My proxies are in the States at the moment. With a bit of luck they sent the proxy before they went. If not they will be back, just in time to get it in

Calendargirl Mon 17-Jun-24 19:12:23

welbeck

i think i'll do belt and braces again; take my postal ballot and hand it in at any polling station.
i had to fill in a form last time, but not sure if that was because i was also delivering someone else's postal vote.
that won't apply now, sadly. she died.

Yes, you always have to fill in a form now if you hand in any postal vote.

Just post it, no point having a postal vote if you still go to the polling station.

🤷‍♀️

welbeck Mon 17-Jun-24 20:50:22

no, i'm going to take it to a polling station in the constituency.
that is within the rules, and that is what i'm going to do.

Pittcity Mon 17-Jun-24 21:08:26

Ours have been posted.

I don't understand why we get a letter saying that our postal vote is on its way. Same as when you get an NHS letter saying that a Bowel Cancer Test is being sent to you. Such a waste of money.

Bumface Mon 17-Jun-24 21:16:14

I agree we should cherish our hard won right to vote and get out there and vote.

The only trouble is, I really don't like any of them so it will have to be the least of evils.

Pittcity Mon 17-Jun-24 21:19:08

I'd vote for Count Binface if I lived in Sunak's constituency.

welbeck Mon 17-Jun-24 21:21:23

getting the letter is to reassure you that you are on the current electoral roll, and have registered to receive a postal ballot, which will be sent to you shortly.
if you were not on the roll, or not sure, there are a couple of days to register to vote, if you hurry.
i saw a sign about this aimed at students today.

Calendargirl Mon 17-Jun-24 21:40:53

welbeck

no, i'm going to take it to a polling station in the constituency.
that is within the rules, and that is what i'm going to do.

That’s fine, it just means filling in the form each time though.

henetha Tue 18-Jun-24 00:01:21

I like going to the polling station and standing in the little booth with my voting paper and pencil. That's when I get my gut feeling about who I should vote for.

NotSpaghetti Tue 18-Jun-24 01:32:31

Our postal vote forms aren't here yet.