Anger at postal vote mix-up

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A WEST Hampstead resident studying in Nottingham is furious she had to return to London to cast her vote because Camden Council twice failed to deliver her postal vote.

Katie Balcombe applied well within the deadline for a postal vote but when she returned to her student flat a few days before the election it had not arrived.

She called the council and was told they would send another one which would definitely arrive in time.

But the day before the election it had still not arrived and when she called again she was told there was nothing the council could do and she had to come to the town hall in King's Cross to get another postal vote.

She said: "I was really angry. They took away my right to vote and it cost me loads of money to come back to London on the train.

"Many others are in a similar predicament and I feel if these postal votes had been sorted out the outcome may have been different.

"I am shocked at how the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency turned out. With the bookies backing Ed Fordham I was sure the Liberal Democrats would steal it.

"I feel my council should be held to account for the mess they got our constituency in as I have yet to receive any kind of apology."

A spokeswoman for the council said: "Camden Council sent a postal vote to Katie Balcombe's address in Nottingham on Tuesday 27 April.

"She did not receive it, so the council sent another postal vote at the end of the week, which she also did not receive.

"The only option therefore was for Katie to turn up in person at Camden Town Hall to be reissued with a postal vote on polling day, which she did. Whilst we sympathise with Ms Balcombe and the inconvenience and costs she had to endure, the council did everything in its power to ensure Katie received her vote in the post.