Voters in some areas of the UK have claimed they were turned away from polling booths after being told that their names were not on the register, despite having seemingly registered weeks ago.
They included Becky Timmons from Campton, Bedfordshire, who told the Guardian that she and her husband received polling cards after registering in September, but only he was able to vote.
“When I went along and said my name and address they said that I was not on the list,” said Timmons.
“Then the official said: ‘Oh, we have actually had three other people like this, so let us check.’ They phoned up the council but I was still unable to vote. Then she suggested it was some sort of computer error.
“It made me quite cross. If there were four that happened in our local village then you wonder if it was part of a nationwide thing.”
A similar story was relayed by Kieran Robertson, in North Oxfordshire, who said that he had registered online to vote on 28 May and had received an email confirming that he had been registered. After checking and rechecking with the council earlier this week he turned up at his local polling station and was told that he was not able to vote.
“It seems like the national computer system went fine but when that tried to send the details to the council system something went wrong and nobody was informed,” said Robertson, who added that he planned to follow up with official complaints.
“It leaves you thinking about our status as a democracy. I have not been able to vote, which means that we are not a democracy in some ways.”
A spokesperson for the Electoral Commission said it was not aware of any major problems being reported in relation to voting.
Complaints about electoral registration, voting or polling station issues should be directed to the local authority first, according to the Electoral Commission, which can still provide advice. Further resources can be found on its website.
