Postal voters urged to make their vote count

Issued on behalf of the Constituency and Regional Returning Officer for Highland

Postal voters are being reminded to read instructions carefully as they cast their votes for the Scottish Parliamentary election.

The Highland Council’s Chief Executive Donna Manson, the Constituency and 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 6 May. All packs are being dispatched first class mail in time for you to fill out and complete before the election. If you believe you are too late to post your completed postal pack, alternatively you can hand deliver your postal vote at any of our polling stations within the Highland Constituencies.”

Anyone who has registered for postal voting should have received their postal vote by now or will be included in the final issue on Monday 26 April.

To assist you with the completion of your pack and the casting of your vote, The Highland Council has made available a  short video film “How to complete your postal vote” and has published Frequently Asked Questions.

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 in the final issue on Monday 26 April. 

The deadline for applying for a postal vote has now passed but any registered postal voters who have not received their postal ballot pack by 29 April, should phone the Highland election helpline on 0800 393 783.  

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. A video has also been created entitled “What happens to my postal vote after I sent it?”

Further information about the Scottish Parliamentary elections is on The Highland Council’s website at www.highland.gov.uk/sp2021election