Postal voters urged to make their vote count

13th April 2016

From today (Wednesday 13 April) 33,565 postal voting papers are being dispatched to Highland electors that have requested a postal vote.

Voters are being reminded to read instructions carefully as they cast their votes for the Scottish Parliamentary election and to return their completed postal packs ideally before polling day.

Most electors across the three Highland constituencies of Caithness, Sutherland and Ross; Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch; and Inverness and Nairn will receive their postal votes by Monday 18 April.

People who have recently applied for a postal vote or have asked for changes to existing postal or proxy votes will have their ballot papers posted to them on Friday 15 April and should receive them by Thursday 21 April.

The deadline for applying for a postal vote is Tuesday 19 April. These later requests will mean ballot papers will be posted on Monday 25 April.

Postal voters who do not receive their postal ballot pack by Thursday 28 April should phone the Highland election helpline on 01349 886657.

As the postal voting packs start dropping through letter boxes, postal voters are being reminded to read the instructions carefully when casting their vote otherwise their vote might not be counted.

When voting by post, voters need to fill in a form accompanying their ballot paper, giving their signature and date of birth. As a security measure, these are matched against the signature and date of birth the voter provided when they applied to vote by post.

Steve Barron, Returning Officer for Highland, said: "Postal voting is growing in popularity as a convenient way for voters to have their say. But at every election, some postal votes are invalid, because the voter either forgets to sign the postal voting statement or writes down the date on which they filled it in, rather than their date of birth.

"I would urge postal voters to take the time to read the guidance enclosed in the postal packs and provide the right information so that we can count their votes. We need to receive postal votes before polls close at 10pm on Thursday 5 May."

Further information about the Scottish Parliamentary elections is on The Highland Council's website at www.highland.gov.uk/SP16