‘Betrayed’ because ballots were lost
Normandy resident Chris Watkins feels “absolutely betrayed” after the Brexit vote – not because he agrees or disagrees with the result but because “incompetence or a deliberate decision” denied him a vote.
Mr Chris Watkins, who lives in Manche, said he and his wife Christina applied for a postal vote earlier this year – early enough that they thought they would receive their ballot papers early. However, nothing arrived.
The Connexion has heard from a number of other readers whose ballots did not arrive in time but Mr Watkins said that any lost papers to France, Spain or Britons living elsewhere in the world would almost certainly mean they had lost their chance to vote.
“Around June 14 we were at Le Mans and people said that they or one of their group had not received their voting papers either. Some said they had asked for replacements.
“When I called my electoral registrar’s office in Wales to get mine I spoke to the manager and she said Electoral
Commission rules said replacement ballot papers could not be sent out until June 17.
“Given how long it takes for post to get to France and further afield and then be posted back, there was no chance a vote could be in time.
“I have always voted but in the biggest vote of my life, as far as I am concerned, I have been prevented from voting. I feel betrayed.
“This was not just by the system but by someone in the Electoral Commission preventing replacement voting slips being sent out without any common sense being used on the cut-off date.
“It is either incompetence or a deliberate decision.
“Given the closeness of the vote and the fact that many people who have been out of the UK for longer than 15 years have lost their vote, I wonder how many others living abroad have lost their right to have a say in a referendum that will have a vast effect on their future.”
To make matters worse, when Mr Watkins’ replacement postal ballot paper did arrive it did so on June 22 – the eve of the vote.
Mr and Mrs Watkins have lived in France for more than five years and have had no previous problems with receiving mail but Mr Watkins said he was surprised that the replacement ballot arrived at all as it did not have his post code and the village name was spelt wrongly.
“Other correspondence has been correct, so how has this happened that on this vital vote our voting papers – my wife has not received anything at all – have gone missing?
