BEFORE the European elections in May The National highlighted how the “quick advice note” for postal votes sent to people in Scotland wasn't all that accurate.
The instructions that came with the paper featured a diagram of someone putting their vote through a post box emblazoned with the royal cypher “EIIR” – but this kind of post box doesn’t exist in Scotland.
That’s because after Queen Elizabeth took to the throne in 1953, nationalists rejected her title of “the Second” and took direct action leading to the “pillar box war”. There have been no EIIR post boxes in Scotland since.
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Since The National drew attention to the matter, it appears the instruction diagrams have been changed to suit voters in Scotland. The eagle-eyed reader and postal vote recipient who initially informed us of the error got in touch to say they’d received their ballot paper ahead of the General Election, and were “cock-a-hoop” to see a diagram showing the right Scottish pillar box – without the EIIR cypher.
They went on: “I didn’t expect it as I hadn’t raised a complaint with my local authority, only brought it to your attention at The National as a(nother) bit of Union Jackery.
“I have recently retired from a job where attention to detail was important and where understanding the cultural and legal differences between English and Scottish public services was essential so when I saw the pictogram it just jumped right out at me.
“Your Union Jackery campaign has really chimed with me so when I saw the original pictogram my only thought was to add it to the list of examples.
“It’s really pleasing to know that councillors or officials read The National and are prepared to act on the issues raised, no matter how small.”
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We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
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Callum Baird, Editor of The National
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