An SNP candidate has raised concerns after voters in the constituency he is contesting received two postal votes.
Neil Gray, who is standing in Airdrie and Shotts, which is in the North Lanarkshire council area, told the Sunday Herald: “I have had people saying they have been getting two envelopes and two postal votes each,” he said.
“This will be a concern for anyone who is interested in a fair and democratic process.”
One man, who asked to be anonymous, said of him and his wife: "We received two envelopes, both of which contained a ballot paper with the same barcode. I called the council and was told to just fill one out."
He added: "I find it very disappointing to get this level of incompetence."
Paul Jukes, who is the returning officer for the Airdrie and Shotts constituency, confirmed the mistake: “We are aware of an error by a printing contractor which has meant that a very small number of postal voters in the Airdrie and Shotts constituency have received two ballot papers with identical unique numbers. We have asked our contractor to provide us with a full report on how this error came to be made.”
However, Jukes said that it was not possible for two postal votes in one person’s name to be counted.
“The integrity of the election is absolutely not in question as the unique barcode on the ballot paper and postal voting statement is scanned electronically, meaning the system will prevent more than one paper with the same unique number being counted.
“We have asked voters who receive duplicate ballot papers to complete one and return it as normal and either destroy or return the duplicate paper to us for secure destruction. We would also remind voters that it is a criminal offence to attempt to vote twice in any election.”
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