A woman aged 98 whose postal vote failed to arrive was turned away from a polling station when she went to cast her ballot with an emergency proxy vote.
Flora Kelsey, from Corstorphine, Edinburgh, was among those who did not receive their ballot papers by post but did not feel able to make the journey to the emergency centre set up to tackle the problem.
Kelsey has participated in every UK election since turning 21 but, given her age, fears that she may not get the chance to vote again.
Delays in receiving postal votes in more than a dozen Scottish constituencies may play a significant role if contests are close. Election officials have called for the deadline for postal votes to be moved to an earlier date to ensure that delays can be more rapidly identified and acted upon.
After her postal vote failed to arrive, Kelsey visited her local polling station, Corstorphine Library, accompanied by her grandson George. Although an emergency unit had been sent up at Edinburgh City Chambers last weekend in response to the postal vote delays, she said she was unable to make the journey into the city centre.
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After phoning the council for advice, her grandson was told to apply for an emergency proxy vote. He told BBC Scotland: “I filled the form in, we brought it along and we’ve just been told that doesn’t work.”
It is understood that under election rules Kelsey was registered for a postal vote, so could not also have a proxy vote.
Andy Wightman, a former Scottish Green Party MSP, said that his housebound mother, who lives on Skye, did not receive her postal ballot. “Luckily I am with her and able to go to council office today, What a shambles,” he wrote on Twitter/X.
The postal vote system needs to be overhauled, the Association of Electoral Administrators has warned. Laura Lock, its deputy chief executive, said the deadline for postal votes should be moved to five days earlier. At present the deadline is 11 working days before polling day.
Lock also said that voters who did not receive their postal ballots should be allowed emergency proxy votes on polling day.
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About a quarter of voters in Scotland used the postal voting system this year, an unprecedented number. Part of the problem is holidaymakers leaving the country at the start of the summer school break.
The first minister, John Swinney, has berated Rishi Sunak for the timing of the election.
It is thought the problems could prove to be significant in 13 Scottish seats where the contests are particularly close but the true extent of the problems will only emerge after the votes are counted.
