The emergency centres launched in Scotland after general election postal votes delay

Emergency centres for people to collect and cast postal votes have been opened in a rare intervention as First Minister John Swinney raised fears that delivery delays could potentially impact results in next week’s general election.

In a highly unusual step, council chiefs in Edinburgh said a facility at the City Chambers would allow locals who were yet to receive their ballot to have one reissued, or even to cast their vote ahead of July 4.

It came as Mr Swinney, the SNP leader, voiced concerns that some voters were being left “disenfranchised” by the delays. He said: “In an election where there will be a number of marginal contests in Scotland, because there is a really intense contest going on here in Scotland, I am worried people will be disenfranchised.”

Concerns have been raised over postal vote delays. Picture: Paul Ellis/PA

In response to the situation, the City of Edinburgh Council announced it was taking “urgent steps”. Those voters who have not yet received their postal votes can go to the City Chambers and have their voting pack reissued. A polling booth has also be set up for those who wish to cast their vote there and then.

Voters are being reminded to bring photographic identity with them to use the facility, which operated until 5pm on Friday, and will again be open between 9am and 5pm on both Saturday and Sunday.

Meanwhile, Fife Council said it would open its Glenrothes headquarters on Saturday. This will allow voting packs to be reissued, and a private booth will be set up for those wishing to complete their postal vote there and then.

The council stressed this was not a polling station, but people could complete their postal vote in private and then put it into the Royal Mail post box outside Fife House. The facility will be open on Saturday between 9am and 4pm.

Falkirk Council said staff will be available from 9am till 12pm on Saturday at The Foundry, Central Business Park, Larbert, to assist voters affected by postal vote delays who would be leaving to go on holiday over the weekend.

Mr Swinney previously accused Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of being “disrespectful” with his decision to hold the election at a time when most schools in Scotland have finished for the summer and many families will be on holiday.

The First Minister told BBC Radio Scotland on Friday he was “very concerned” about delays in some postal ballots being received, adding this may mean some Scots “have not got the ability to participate in the election”.

He said: “About 25 per cent of the electorate now vote by post. I don’t know what proportion of postal voters have or have not received their ballot papers.”

Mr Swinney added: “The day the Prime Minister called the election I expressed my concern this election was going to take place during the Scottish school summer holidays, and various people criticised me for making that comment.

“But here we are, just as I feared we would be, that people leaving Scotland on their holidays have applied for postal votes, haven’t got them through, and it is not in any way, shape or form a surprise to me that that is the case.

“I just think it is a deeply unacceptable situation that people will be disenfranchised because the calling of the election has been done at a time which is quite inconvenient for a lot of people, lots of schools in Scotland are already on their holidays, and we’re a week away from polling day.”

Paul Lawrence, the returning officer for Edinburgh, said: “I appreciate the concerns of voters on this issue and my absolute priority is to ensure everyone has the opportunity to exercise their democratic right to vote in this general election. That’s why we’ve taken the decision to put in extra resources and open the City Chambers this weekend.”

He told people: “Please only attend if you haven’t received your postal vote and you’re going on holiday or won’t be at home next week.”

Mr Lawrence added: “The timing of this election has been challenging as have other circumstances beyond our control, but our teams are working hard to ensure it passes off as smoothly and successfully as possible.”

He said it was a “concern throughout the UK and throughout Scotland”, but the decision had been made because local schools broke up on Friday and many families were going away at the weekend.

Mr Lawrence said: “It’s a long time probably since there’s been an election in the school holiday time, which does mean that things like postal votes, getting them printed and so on, getting them distributed, has its particular challenges. The thing for us is having awareness of what’s happening.

“There is a printing and distribution network, lots of things are done from a central point, which may be efficient and effective. But it does mean the amount of time to get from a central point through to not only Scotland, but of course remote areas, rural areas – it does make that challenging.

“Some of my colleagues have called for review of the printing and distribution network. I think that’s a sensible thing to have a look at after this general election. The ones we’re getting are printed down south and distributed to Scotland.”

Glasgow City Council said in a statement it had issued almost 80,000 postal voting packs, more than a third of which had already been completed and returned. The authority said it had only been asked to issue 170 replacements, as it indicated it had not taken the same emergency action as in Edinburgh.

The Association of Electoral Administrators believes it is unprecedented for a returning officer to have to invite postal voters to have replacement packs issued to them. It said postal votes were expected to top ten million at this general election – a 20 per cent rise from 2019, and up from just 937,000 in 1997.

Chief executive Peter Stanyon said: “Unfortunately for voters, returning officers and their teams, the volume of postal vote applications appears to have overloaded the system. We’ve warned for years this could happen as volumes have continued to grow while supplier capacity remains the same.

“We will continue to call for electoral law changes that mean postal votes can be sent out earlier, and returning officers are given more ability to help postal voters.”

Liberal Democrat MSP Willie Rennie said: "The last thing people want as they pack their swimming costumes and hunt for sun cream is to chase up their postal vote and stress about returning it. The government should be making it as easy possible for everyone to exercise their democratic rights. Instead Scots are being left to scrabble."

A Scottish Conservative spokesman said: “Postal voting is a vital, and increasingly popular, means of people having their say at elections. It’s unacceptable if anyone is denied the chance to vote through no fault of their own.”