MORE readers of The National have come forward to us following our story about pre-paid envelopes for completed postal voting applications being addressed to premises in Warrington, when there are plenty of local electoral registration offices (EROs) in Scotland.
Susan Grant, from Tain, in Ross-shire, got the ball rolling earlier this week when she told us the return address for her form was “Highland and Western Isles ERO, Warrington, England”.
Kate Ritchie, from Braco, in Perth and Kinross, said the pre-paid and printed envelope that came with her request for an absentee vote for her son Liam was to an address more than 500 miles away from their home.
She told us: “I too was surprised when the request for a postal vote for my son had a pre-paid envelope for PO Box 9468, Poole, BH12 9LZ ... this is indeed over 500 miles from our home address.
“I am so glad I read the article as like many others I presume the idea of a Freepost (business reply) appealed and it was sitting at the door ready to be posted today.
“After reading the article I opened the envelope and on the bottom of the form it said to return to ‘Electoral Registration Officer, Robertson House, Whitefriars Crescent, Perth, PH2 0LG’.
“Needless to say I shall be spending the 66 pence for a second class stamp in order to return the form to the Perth address.” Ritchie added: “It beggars belief as to why the business reply envelope is included in the postal vote application and does indeed raise questions over the validity of the postal voting system.
“How many others (like me) will cease the opportunity to save 66 pence and use the ‘dodgy’ return envelope?”
Many electoral registration offices are shut because of the pandemic, and explain on their websites: “Due to Covid-19 our offices are currently closed and we are using an external scanning bureau to handle postal vote application forms.
“You will receive a business reply envelope if you request a paper application form to be sent to you.”
The notice explains that pre-addressed envelopes will be made out for the Warrington address, although completed documents can be sent to your local office.
Charlie Kerr, from Dundee, also got in touch to tell us that something similar happens with letters about pensions.
“My pension is dealt with by the local office in Dundee, as far as I am aware,” he said. “However it states on the envelope that ‘If undelivered please return to DWP, PO Box 585, Belfast BT1 1DW’.
“But if you send a letter to them it has to be sent to the Pension Service 3, Mail Handling Site A, Wolverhampton, WV98 1AF. I believe the address in Wolverhampton is merely a ‘sorting office’ who then send the letter on to Dundee for it to be dealt with there.
“I don’t know what Belfast does with returned letters. Maybe that’s where the incinerator is situated?”
Kerr said it seemed to be a waste of money, and added: “Roll on independence when we can have an office in Scotland that will deal with everything including direct receipt of letters and returned mail.”
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