JOHN Swinney has reacted with fury after Downing Street dismissed concerns about Scottish voters being “disenfranchised” due to problems with postal voting.
The First Minister said Westminster was aiming to make it “ever harder” to exercise the right to vote – after raising concerns that holding the General Election in the Scottish school holidays would have a negative impact.
The Westminster election is to be held to July 4 – after all but two of Scotland’s local authorities have broken up for the school holidays – and some Scots who have travelled abroad will not be able to vote as they left before receiving a postal vote.
The Electoral Commission said it will look into the administration of postal voting after this election, while the Local Government Association called for a review of the already “overburdened” system put under extra pressure by an “unprecedented increase” in people voting by post.
Swinney said the impact of the timing of the election combined with the delays in postal votes being sent out should raise concerns as some Scottish voters would effectively be disenfranchised.
Asked whether the Prime Minister shared Swinney’s concerns, the Tory leader’s official spokesperson told reporters on Monday: “No.”
“We are aware of some concerns around the printing and delivery of postal ballot packs in some local areas,” they added.
The “dismissive” response was condemned by the First Minister on Tuesday.
Swinney said: "For the Prime Minister to dismiss and ignore the concerns of Scottish voters who are being denied their right to vote is a democratic disgrace.
"For voters in Scotland who will get the chance to vote on Thursday, it's one more reason to give this Prime Minister and the Tories the democratic drubbing they so richly deserve.
“Ever since this election was called, the SNP has been sounding the alarm over the potential disenfranchisement of Scottish voters due to its timing during the Scottish school holidays. Unfortunately, those warnings have now come to pass.
“The SNP have sought to protect our democracy at every turn, in the face of Westminster seeking to make the right to vote ever harder – with nonsensical voter ID rules acting as another impediment to making voters' voices heard.
“Scotland may be nothing more than an afterthought for Westminster, but on July 4 you can vote for strong SNP MPs who will always put Scotland’s interests first.”
Despite Sunak, Tory postal affairs minister Kevin Hollinrake is "urgently" investigating the issues, health minister Maria Caulfield has said.
The news comes as Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, said that the postal voting system needs “huge reform”.
“I’ve had numerous emails from people who have not received their postal ballot, that’s simply not good enough,” he said.
“You know, we warned the Prime Minister of this when it became apparent that he was going to choose the election date because, of course, for a huge majority of the people of Scotland, it’s now the school holidays, people are away on holiday.
“If their postal vote didn’t land in time, then they’re now disenfranchised from this election, they’re not able to vote for who they want to represent them at Westminster, whether that’s the SNP, or otherwise, that’s simply not good enough.”
Labour leader Keir Starmer has said that he is concerned about the delays to postal votes disenfranchising people.
"It is really important in this election that every single person has the ability to vote", he said, calling for action from "all of us on a non-party-political basis".
