It is Understood from Mendip District Council that the outstanding postal voting slips for town and district council elections have now been delivered. South Somerset DC issue postal votes for the Frome and Somerton parliamentary elections and I have heard that there may be some electors who have not received these too.
Town and District elections
Inevitably, there will be some electors such as those who are out of the country, for example, who will not be able to vote because they will be unable to submit their completed voting slip by post, by hand to MDC offices or at any polling station in their constituency by the end of play tomorrow.
I don’t know at this stage how many electors fall into this category.
I have been told by Mendip District Council that if an elector has applied for a postal vote and has still not received it, they CANNOT go into a polling station to vote.
If you are in contact with anyone who is in this situation please direct them to the election office at Mendip (01749 341530) and they will issue a duplicate. The elector will need to collect this from MDC offices in Shepton Mallet. I suggest the easiest way for this group to make sure their vote is counted is to vote at MDC offices and hand it back to them immediately. Anyone with a postal voting slip can also drop their slip into any polling station in Frome before 10pm tomorrow. There is a helpful Q&A item here on the MDC website.
Parliamentary election
There are also concerns that some electors in Frome have not received their postal voting slips for the parliamentary election. These should have been sent out by South Somerset District Council as they (and not Mendip) are organising the Frome and Somerton parliamentary election. If you come across an elector in this position, they should contact Roger Quantock or Ian Clarke in the SSDC election office on 01935 462462. I have not been able to get through to Ian or Roger on that number this afternoon but they should persevere!
If I can help in any way, please give me a ring on 07860 414 552.
Thanks
Paul Wynne
Frome Town Clerk
An apology from Mendip District Council can be found here.
