Are These Postal Votes Safe?

[anotheoldgit]

I ask this because I know a person who has been sent two sets of identical postal votes.

[Jackdaw33]

As long as he votes OUT twice I would keep shtum!

[Samuraisan]

To imagine the losing side will claim they were not.

[Islay]

Yes

[Samuraisan]

I mean " I imagine "

[sp1814]

AOG

The postal voting system is safe, unless it is exposed that hundreds of thousands of duplicate cards have been sent out, or if the vote is so close that a minuscule number could make a difference.

If the vote is 60/40 either way, a small number of duplicates out of the tens of millions of votes cast, will be an irrelevance.

[pixie374]

How do we know how many are duplicated? Why isn't it just computerised so each reference number can only be counted once?

[Mamyalynne]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-36425174

[pixie374]

Ah:-)

[Khandro]

Problems arising for expats; the forms were sent out with return envelopes bearing a 'Postage Paid' information. Fearing a cock-up, I fortunately put stamps on our two, - an expensive €7.40 because of the large envelopes.

It transpires that in Germany some expats are complaining that theirs have been returned, but only to those who put a 'sender' address on the back which I always do and is sort of obligatory here. Those who haven't put on a return address are now fearful that their envelopes have simply been binned. I don't know if this applies to other countries.

We are outers, but I think a lot of expats are on the 'in' side, so sad .. (hee-hee!)

[EDDIE51]

Postal votes have an individual voter ID number so it is impossible to vote twice. If anyone does try to use them to vote twice they are committing a criminal offence.

[Mamyalynne]

Yes, says that in the link I posted at lunchtime.


Khandro's point is an interesting one too.

[dannyk13]

///It transpires that in Germany some expats are complaining that theirs have been returned, but only to those who put a 'sender' address on the back which I always do and is sort of obligatory here///
This has happened to me when I have put a return address on the envelope.Apparently this occurs when the sorting office put the envelope through the address reading machine upside down and so it is sorted to the return address.

[Mamyalynne]

I have very occasionally had that happen too.

I thought Khandro was saying the 'Postage Paid' return envelopes were not equivalent to the postage charge required.

I'm probably misunderstanding the point.

[modeller]

My father was once told he couldn't vote as according to their list , in the polling station , he had already voted, ( he hadn't ). If all votes are checked against a list then duplication shouldn't be possible.

[Khandro]

mamyalynne; As far as the British are concerned, there is nothing wrong with the pre-paid system they have used, it should be accepted internationally, the problem is that the German (and maybe other) postal systems don't appear to recognize it as valid and have either returned to sender, if they have an address, or possibly scrapped them if they haven't.

The classification for that size envelope is a Grossbrief and requires stamps of €3,70

[Old_Geezer]

Remember; votes days early, vote often.

[Mamyalynne]

That's what I thought you meant, surely there should be some agreement about this, weird affair.