A NEW voting scandal has emerged which means that thousands of vulnerable pensioners in care homes across Scotland could be denied their right to vote in today’s General Election.

The new registration system, brought in the day after the independence referendum, banned block voting which means that the elderly and frail being looked after in nursing homes had to register individually for the first time, particularly those who require a postal vote.

However, The National can reveal that there are older people who are still waiting for their postal vote months after the deadline, and that the problem is said to be far-reaching.

Scottish cabinet minister Alex Neil warned that this was just be the tip of the iceberg, and expressed concern that the problem was “widespread”.

He called on the Electoral Commission to investigate the scandal and ensure pensioners in nursing homes are registered to vote in time for the Scottish Parliament elections next year because it was too late now to “sort out the mess” in time for the General Election.

Neil, who is Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Communities and Pensioners’ Rights and former Health Minister, said: “This is absolutely outrageous because these elderly people are being denied their democratic opportunity to vote through no fault of their own.

“The Electoral Commission has to investigate this as a matter of urgency and make sure this doesn’t happen again because clearly it is totally unacceptable.

“It is now too late for this election but they need to make sure that before the Scottish Parliament elections next year they have a far better system operating to ensure that everybody, including people living in nursing homes, get the opportunity to vote, and if they decide not to vote it is their decision, not someone else’s.

“This has not been properly thought through by the Electoral Commission.”

The fresh controversy was uncovered after local councillor Michael Coyle was alerted by worried elderly residents at Carnbroe Care Home in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, and their families who were worried they had no vote.

Neil added: “It has happened at Carnbroe but there will be many more homes in the same situation. It is bound to be widespread and we may never know just how many elderly people are missing out. You could be talking about big numbers.

“Where it is a close-run race it could make a difference to the overall result. It is critically important we get it sorted and I think they need to apologise to those concerned as well.”

In March, Neil called on the Electoral Commission to shelve its plans to introduce the new voting system in Scotland until after the General Election after exposing the “shambles” surrounding it.

The Airdrie and Shotts MSP and Highland MSP Rob Gibson revealed they had fallen victim to the confusion surrounding the new registration system after they were told they were not on the register.

Both of them were forced to provide proof of identity to be registered under the new system despite voting all their lives and living at the same addresses for nearly 30 years.

Airdrie councillor Coyle said: “I was contacted by families of old folk in this home saying they had received nothing and were not able to vote. I phoned up the local registration office to find out if there was anything that could be done at this late stage and was told it was too late.

“They also confirmed to me that this was a wider problem because care homes were not bothering to fill in the forms or getting the right information to the old people. It is sheer incompetence. These old people take their vote very seriously and it is such a shame this has happened.

“It is a total disgrace. The thought of elderly people sitting there in these homes waiting for a postal vote which is never going come is absolutely heartbreaking. Most of these pensioners have voted all their lives but because of the confusion over the change in the voting system they are being denied that right.”

The Electoral Commission said the “onus” was on the local Electoral Registration Offices (EROs) to work with care homes to get people registered.

They produced a guide for care home staff with information on how they can help elderly residents get registered and details on how the new registration system works.

Under the old system those who run the care homes could block register all the residents. That changed last September with the introduction of the new Individual Electoral Registration system which means everyone is responsible for themselves.

The Commission assured voters who were registered in the referendum they will be allowed to vote. However, the rules are different for postal voters ­— the majority of whom are elderly.

The new rules state that “existing electors who have a postal vote or proxy vote will need to be registered under the new system by March 2, 2015 otherwise they will lose their vote”.

An Electoral Commission spokeswoman said: “The onus is on the ERO. However, EROs may work quite closely with care homes to get people registered and care homes have a role.

“We produced guidance for care home staff so they know how they can help someone register etc. EROs should send a household enquiry form to care homes and then someone responsible for the care home should reply with the names of individuals. Anyone voting by post has to be registered to vote individually.”