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Postal voting has begun😮

(62 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.

rosie1959 Tue 18-Jun-24 11:31:51

I received mine this morning as we are on holiday polling day. Now just where to stick my x
I get the feeling from the candidates put forward that Labour don’t think they have a hope in hell of winning here they have selected a candidate that doesn’t even live in the area. They live in a city far removed from the demographic of this mainly rural farming constituency

Wyllow3 Tue 18-Jun-24 12:18:14

Not arrived yet, should I be worried?

nanna8 Tue 18-Jun-24 12:31:16

My husband was asked to provide proof of his last British place of residence so he could vote in your elections. Seeing as how he hasn’t lived there for 50 years, he declined. One less vote for Nige.

ginny Tue 18-Jun-24 14:12:17

We applied for a postal vote this year as we will be away from home on polling day. We had the acknowledgment letter.
We are now en route to our holiday and no voting papers have arrived.
Hopefully one of our DDs can post them to us when they arrive and we will be able to post them back in time. Why they couldn’t just post them earlier instead of sending an acknowledgment in the post. We already had an email acknowledgment.

winterwhite Tue 18-Jun-24 15:05:57

Ginny, when you think, the preparation and printing of the ballot slips is a major operation that obvs can’t start until after the closing date for nominations. Then they have to be
typeset and printed with extreme care - no errors and no over- or under-printing.
But I think the closing date for return is polling day itself so with luck you’ll be OK. Have a good holiday 🌻

ginny Tue 18-Jun-24 16:00:43

I can understand that winterwhite.😀
Bit of a waste of money to send an email and a letter of acknowledgment .
Fingers crossed we can get the votes back in time.

Grantanow Wed 19-Jun-24 08:59:40

My postal vote hasn't arrived yet.

NotSpaghetti Wed 19-Jun-24 11:32:11

Nor mine.

Ashcombe Fri 21-Jun-24 06:33:32

I am staying at my DH’s home in France for a month. Great excitement yesterday teatime: he emptied the mailbox and I’m delighted to discover that Torbay Council has fulfilled my request for a postal vote to be sent over here! I’ve voted and we shall post it today in the SAE provided! Brilliant!

I hope everyone else receives theirs on time! 🤞

choughdancer Fri 21-Jun-24 07:50:29

I haven't received mine yet either, so I'm rather relieved to discover that it isn't just me! Usually I vote in person, but will be away for this one.

DiamondLily Fri 21-Jun-24 07:53:29

My acknowledgement card said that the actual papers would be sent out next Monday.

NotSpaghetti Fri 21-Jun-24 10:09:26

Mine has just arrived - and yesterday we actually had a visit from a member of our local labour party looking for support!

Grantanow Fri 21-Jun-24 11:42:24

It arrived and I've sent it in. Shoals of leaflets from the Lib Dems, one from the Tories and none from anyone else. Count Binface - where are you?

Wyllow3 Fri 21-Jun-24 12:01:47

Safe Labour seat - had one Labour, one from a Workers Party, none from Lib Dems, or the other Workers Party (?),or the Independent, or the Conservatives, or the Womens Equality party. No Reform Candidate (no point) nor a binface

Wheniwasyourage Fri 21-Jun-24 14:06:10

Ours arrived today. I do like voting in person, but some clown decided to call an election during the Scottish school holidays so the postie was delivering lots of postal ballot papers today. Apparently there are piles of candidates’ leaflets to be delivered next week, which seems a bit late for those of us who will already have voted!

Wheniwasyourage Fri 21-Jun-24 20:08:56

We’ve posted our votes!!

Doodledog Fri 21-Jun-24 20:10:43

Wheniwasyourage

We’ve posted our votes!!

As have we. It’s not the same as going to the polling station, but our passports are both out of date so we’ve gone for postal voting this time.

Marydoll Fri 21-Jun-24 20:14:12

Mamardoit

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

Some of cannot manage to physically vote, so a postal vote is necessary.
I got mine today.

Bumface Fri 21-Jun-24 21:00:35

I have a permanent postal vote for no very good reason. I just applied for it as I wasn't going to be around for one election a few years back. Although I benefit from this, I think it is wrong and open to abuse. In Northern Ireland you can apply for a one off postal vote if you are going to be away for any reason but to get a permanent postal vote you have to prove disability or illness or to be able to prove educational, work or employment reasons. And don't even get me started on proportional representation.

PoorJenny Fri 21-Jun-24 21:07:55

Posted mine today.

Calendargirl Sat 22-Jun-24 07:04:19

but our passports are both out of date

I’m a poll clerk at the elections. Just pointing out that it doesn’t matter if your passport or driving licence are out of date, as long as the photo still looks like you. Don’t worry if the expired passport has cut-off corners, it’s the picture likeness that matters.

Also, if you are going to the polling station to vote, please take your poll card with you. You don’t have to, but it makes for a quicker and more effective experience for both you and the staff.

Doodledog Sat 22-Jun-24 09:44:47

I know, Calendargirl. But try telling Mr D that grin. Also, we go away a lot, and it being July we don't want to be tied to home on the day. Postal has worked for us this time.

varian Sat 22-Jun-24 10:00:19

Before I sent in my postal vote we received five leaflets from the Conservatives , all through the post. One of them warned us not to vote LibDem because Labour would win and the Conservatives were still hoping to be the main opposition party.

We gor even more leaflets from the LibDems. mostly delivered by a local volunteer. They were full of positive messages about LibDem policies and the brilliant LibDem candidate who won a byelection here last year overturning a previous Conservative majority of more than 19.000.

After I had voted LibDem . a single flimsy Reform leaflet was delivered by post. Nothing from the Greens or Labour as I think they know that under FPTP voting for them in this constituency is a wasted vote.

biglouis Sat 22-Jun-24 10:06:54

Mine arrived yesterday and is all filled out. I have a regular mail collection today for my business so I will hand it to the postie. Done!

Wheniwasyourage Sat 22-Jun-24 18:39:27

Calendargirl

^but our passports are both out of date^

I’m a poll clerk at the elections. Just pointing out that it doesn’t matter if your passport or driving licence are out of date, as long as the photo still looks like you. Don’t worry if the expired passport has cut-off corners, it’s the picture likeness that matters.

Also, if you are going to the polling station to vote, please take your poll card with you. You don’t have to, but it makes for a quicker and more effective experience for both you and the staff.

That’s good and useful information, Calendargirl and should be more widely advertised. Thank you!