ELECTIONS: Advice from SSDC for postal voters

PEOPLE who have applied to make their votes in the forthcoming elections by post will start to receive their postal voting pack from South Somerset District Council.

Tens of thousands of postal voting packs will be sent out from SSDC’s elections team today (Thursday, April 23, 2015) with the first packs expected to start arriving in the days following.

Depending on where they live, postal voters will be voting to elect a MP for the Yeovil or the Somerton and Frome constituencies. South Somerset District Council and some Parish/Town Council elections are also taking place at the same time.

SSDC would like to offer the following advice to postal voters to make sure that ballot papers can be accepted and ensure that their vote counts:

• Put your date of birth where indicated, not the date you sign the Postal Voting Statement. Your postal vote will be rejected otherwise.
• Sign the Postal Voting Statement where indicated. If the signature does not match the one SSDC holds, the postal vote will be rejected.
• Couples must ensure they do not mix up their paperwork. We receive a number of Postal Vote Statements each election where partners have signed the other person’s Statement and vice versa. Both postal votes will be rejected if this happens.
• Make sure you put your correct date of birth – don’t guess! It is surprising how many Postal Voting Statements we receive back where the date of birth is different to the date of birth the elector has supplied when applying for a postal vote. If the dates do not match, your postal vote will be rejected.
• Please take the time to read the instructions carefully to ensure your vote counts.

Ian Clarke, electoral registration officer for South Somerset District Council, said, “As electors have made the effort to return a postal vote, we don’t like to reject them without good reason, but if the signatures and/or dates of birth do not match what we hold, we really don’t have any choice but to reject them.

“Make sure you read the instructions provided within your postal voting pack so that your vote counts.”

Tags:
Elections.