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Written question asked by Lord Mann (Labour) on Wednesday, 21 June 2017, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 26 June 2017 (named day). It was answered by Bridget Phillipson (Labour) on Monday, 17 July 2017 on behalf of the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission.

Absent Voting

Question

To ask the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, how many postal votes were discounted because the signature or date of birth was not accepted by returning officers in each constituency in the (a) 2015 and (b) 2017 General Election.

Answer

The Electoral Commission collected data from Returning Officers for all UK constituencies following the UK Parliamentary general election on 7 May 2015. The numbers of postal vote statements rejected by Returning Officers due to mismatched signatures and mismatched dates of birth were as follows:

Postal Vote statements rejected due to mismatched signatures: 46,840

  • Postal Vote statements rejected due to mismatched dates of birth: 38,148
  • Postal Vote statements rejected due to mismatched both dates of birth and signatures: 16,912

Figures for each constituency are available on the Electoral Commission’s website at http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/excel_doc/0011/191648/UKPGE-turnout-postal-rejected-admin-amended-WEB.xlsx

The Electoral Commission is currently collecting data from Returning Officers in relation to the 2017 general election, which will include the number of rejected postal votes. The Commission will publish this in the autumn.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
433
Session
2017-19
Subjects
Absent voting General Election 2015 General Election 2017
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk