Thousands lose London postal votes

A new alert over postal voting was issued today amid claims that thousands lost the chance to vote in this year’s City Hall elections.

The London Assembly claims that 160,000 ballots went missing, largely as a result of Royal Mail failing to deliver the papers to voters or failing to return them to polling stations in time.

Two returning officers, in Greenwich and Lewisham, decided against using Royal Mail to send out postal votes because it could only guarantee that 80 per cent of forms would reach electors.

A report into the mayoral and Assembly elections on 10 June claims government plans to expand postal voting next year could turn elections into a “lottery”.