Outrage at registration failure as Hackney residents denied vote
Hackney Town Hall. Photograph: Hackney Citizen
Hackney residents have been left furious after discovering they will not be able vote in today’s General Election despite having registered before the deadline.
According to a BBC report, the Council has admitted that near 100 Hackney residents would not be able to cast their vote after it experienced problems with the new Individual Registration System.
Hackney resident Kate Mcwilliams told the Citizen that her right to vote had been “taken away from her”.
Ms Mcwilliams registered to vote on April 9, and received a letter of confirmation. On Monday she contacted the Council to ask why her ballot papers had not arrived.
She said: “I contacted Hackney Council first thing on Tuesday. First by email and then by phone. All they said was that I’m not registered and there is nothing they can do.”
“I’ve been really engaged with the election and feel like my civil right to vote has been taken away from me.”
In a statement, the Council insisted that there are “only a handful of cases that we are aware of where voters who have tried to register have not been successful.”
It blamed the failure on the new Individual Registration System, which requires details to be “cross-checked” by the Department for Work and Pensions.
Confusion also surrounds the distribution of ballot papers which contain details of polling stations.
The Town Hall said it would be hand-delivering additional cards up until the last minute, but reminded residents that if they are registered they do not need a poll card to vote.
Voters took to Twitter to express their anger over the situation. Lindsey Steele wrote:
Sorry to all the political parties, I won’t be voting tomorrow because Hackney Council are a bunch of idiots! #ELECTION2015
— Lindsey Steele (@wanderlinds) May 6, 2015
Another resident Claire Mason tweeted:
@hackneycouncil So disappointed. Have been told that I registered too close to the deadline? What are deadlines for exactly? A vote wasted.
— Claire Mason (@x_heighted) May 6, 2015
An Electoral Commission spokesperson said, “We are aware of the issues in Hackney, which we understand at this stage relate to specific problems they have identified with their IT system.
“Any voter that has concerns about whether they are registered, for instance because they have not received a poll card, should contact their electoral services team in Hackney to check this and if needed, to find out where their polling station is.”
Hackney Council has not responded to the Citizen’s request for comment.
“It blamed the failure on the new Individual Registration System, which requires details to be “cross-checked” by the Department for Work and Pensions.”
Erm… YOU WHAT?
Ah Hackney – you never fail to let your people down. Last election you closed the polling stations and denied people the right to vote because… “too many people were voting” and ended up calling the police on the understandably angry electorate. Now this?
A mate in Birmingham has reported on Facebook that he has a letter from his local council telling him he’s registered, but was told when going to vote he wasn’t on the electoral roll. We’ll have to wait and see if many similar reports emerge.
Hackney have screwed up, but it’s also I think a good idea to question the wisdom of two big changes to the registration system so close to a general election.
1. The change to individual registration has caught out many people, including someone I was talking with last night, whose flatmate assumed he could just write the extra names on the form, as in previous years. As a result, my friend loses out on voting – and then there are the masses of student voters who may be lost.
2. The widespread promotion of the centralised Voter Registration page, created by GDS (the team that thinks its revolutionising government IT). All it really does is forward your info to the local council, for them to process. That adds an extra stage to the process, which clearly councils have not had lots of experience with, or time to bed in.
To make such big changes in the run up to a general election just seems wilfully daft. If they couldn’t have been implemented with, say, over a year’s breathing space, they should have been postponed until after the GE.
A friend of mine (also in Birmingham) said his postal vote didn’t come through and he can’t vote either.
I registered to vote by post, but after numerous phone calls I never received my postal vote pack. Then on Wednesday had to suddenly travel for work, so called and was told to apply for an emergency proxy vote, as my postal vote registration was apparently not on the system.
Today my proxy voter has been turned away because my details have not been registered for emergency proxy, even though I was informed over the phone that it had been. It’s appalling that we are denied our right to vote due to admin errors, even though I have spent hours on the phone from abroad over the past few days trying to speak to somebody that knows what is going on. I am extremely disappointed to be refused my rights. Emergency proxy vote is there for a sudden change of circumstance- which I cannot control, but because of bad organisation and so much misinformation I have been denied my chance to vote today
Hackney seems to have signed me up to Russell Brand’s ‘don’t vote’ campaign on my behalf!
I did the online registration before the deadline and when Hackney failed to send me any confirmation I called them yesterday on 6 May and was told that they couldn’t find me on the electoral register. They would have to check with DWP and call me back.
Of course I didn’t receive a callback and when I rung again later, the engaged tone had been put in place instead of the automated waiting system. So this morning I went to my local polling station to see if I could vote without a poll card and found that I couldn’t as I wasn’t on the list. I was asked to wait with some other people who were in the same same situation as me. The council officer looking after us said she had five different numbers to call to see if anything could be done however all the numbers were constantly engaged. Seems like Hackney won’t even let it’s own staff speak to them about this! Given the ease and popularity of online registration methods. I have the feeling that the number of people affected by this is considerably more than 100.
Eventually I left my name and address and said I would return after work to see if any progress has been made. If not then basically I have been denied my right to vote!
5 years you’ve had to prepare for this Hackney Council.
Unfortunately, Turron, they’ve not had quite that long – the change to individual registration only happened in July last year, and the centralised website went live the previous month.
So, that’s less than a year to update the register and verify the existing entries.
While not excusing Hackney’s own failures, I think you also have to seriously consider the wisdom of implementing such big changes less than a year before an election that pretty much everyone knew would be quite close.
@beth
something similar almost happened with me – I was going to be travelling today. So I arranged the proxy vote to be made if the postal vote did not arrive before I left. The postal vote ballot did not arrive as promised, then I was told because I did not opt out of the postal vote I would not be able to use the proxy. As it turned out my trip was cancelled, the postal vote turned up, and I could vote. Had the trip got ahead but proxy would have been refused.
Any Hackney voters denied the right could always go to neighbouring Tower Hamlets and cast one of the unlimited proxy votes which seem to be all the rage there… 😉
Seriously though, this is a disgrace, whoever’s responsible for it.
I have also been denied to vote today in Don Valley.
Registered online, received a polling card (which I have misplaced) and been told that I don’t have the right to vote as i’m not on their list.
The thing is, my partner Jenny registered at the same time and has been able to vote. We even received our polling cards on the same day…..
any ideas on what I can do?
Registered and heard nothing – no letter no ballot papeTried to call and no answer. Not able to vote. Very annoyed with Hackney Council.
I have also been denied despite registering in good time!!! I live in Lewisham, London. Great work you bunch of piss artists!!!
@Andy Cheung – identical story for my girlfriend. She never got a confirmation email, and finds out today that she was never registered. Outrageous how badly this has been managed and I agree that it must be affecting far more than 100 people
I’m tweeting with #DeniedMyVote
let me know your stories
I registered to vote earlier this year yet Hackney local government have kindly disenfranchised myself and my husband. I’ve been to my polling station and kicked up a fuss & they say I have to take it to electoral services who of course are unavailable. I suspect there are not 100 but thousands in the same boat round here. This is what local Labour run government is like-it treats its citizens with CONTEMPT. I wanted my right to NOT vote for any of them. It’s the political class that’s apathetic.
Still no response from Hackney Council.
I’m going to turn up after work with proof of address, the confirmation I received on 9 April and ID and hopefully they will allow me to vote!
They say you can vote without a polling card if you are registered but the problem is we aren’t registered…
Hackney Council has all my contact details and I am expecting to hear from them throughout the course of the day….
Most reports are saying that we left it until the last week to register. I registered on 9th April (deadline was 20th!).
Andy Cheung a few comments above, I managed to get through to the council number after 28 attempts, still had to hold for 15 mins to try to register. I had registered online before the deadline but was told yesterday that a letter had been sent requesting ID which I never received and was told I was unable to vote. I visited my polling station this morning just to confirm and they told me to go to Hackney Town Hall which I did and a call was made to someone and I was then advised to go back to the polling station and speak to the presiding officer who had to call a choice of 5 numbers to confirm all of which were constantly busy. She said she’d call me back, still hadn’t received the call so I called the town hall. Now they will hopefully call me back to confirm I can vote. It’s a lot of effort if you can be bothered!
I have also applied and did not receive a voting card. I have tried contacting them but they are always engaged. I will send an email now, but based on past experience they will just ignore it and blame some system. Is there anything we can do?
I registered a month ago and was turned away today, as I wasn’t on the system, despite registering my wife succefully at the same time, who was able to vote. Outrageous.
Deja Vu. During the last General Election in 2010 Hackney South polling station turned hundreds of voters away because ‘too many people turned up’. There was a mass sit-in by those denied a vote and Hackney called the police on them.
At that time the head of the Electoral Commission said people being turned away without being allowed to vote will “never happen again”.
And now 5 years later…
In this situation why not just proving you are a UK resident be enough after all as they are council tax payers should be easy to prove?
@LeonC – I asked Hackney about that and was told that the electoral register and council tax register are not in fact linked. So much for joined-up government!
@Gerbil – I sincerely hope that all the hoops they are making you jump through to simply be able to vote pays off. Hope I’m wrong but if you weren’t on the electoral register this morning then I doubt they will manage it before the 10pm cut-off tonight. Sounds like Hackney knows nothing can be done at this stage and officers at the town hall and polling stations are just playing ‘pass the parcel’ – sending people back and forth on a wild goose chase or leaving them waiting on a phone call because they can’t admit fault. Let us know if the town hall calls you back…
I was one of those effected, I’m 18 would have been my first vote. I’m really interested in politics and have been for years. I have been denied my right to vote. Is there anyway I can get compensation? If you know of a way please contact me through email Lewis.regan@hotmail.com.
Many thanks
@Andy C well I’ve managed to cast my vote. My visit to the Town Hall this morning wasn’t in vain, I actually gave the presiding officer the wrong number to call me back (missed a single digit out) and when I turned up at the polling station I was registered. Fair play to them for actually rectifying the situation. In this instance anyway. Good luck to everyone else!
A query here for any of you out there with a legal background.
I grew up elsewhere; somewhere where registering is not something you actually have to go and explicitly do yourself. So, I could not vote due to not registering.
So, what I don’t understand is the following: what are the legal grounds for impairing the very essence of the right to vote, based on not completing an administrative requirement? Being disenfranchised while being a reputable resident citizen does not seem quite right…at least, meeting the eligibility criteria I would have thought to be sovereign to following process, no?
I applied for a proxy vote for my son who is in Manchester at college. We did this about 5 weeks ago. The proxy arrived in the post today so Hackney just made it.
I have noticed alot if comments which are warranted. However I need to state a few things……your council tax has no bearings on your elections as one is controlled by the valuation office, council tax and the second is controlled by local government.
What we should be asking is why was a new IT system rolled out so close to a GE. The system was rolled by central government, however local government is getting the blame. This issue has not just happened in Hackney it is across the board…..Central Government have alot transfer for!!!!!!!
I have noticed alot if comments which are warranted. However I need to state a few things……your council tax has no bearings on your elections as one is controlled by the valuation office, council tax and the second is controlled by local government.
What we should be asking is why was a new IT system rolled out so close to a GE. The system was rolled by central government, however local government is getting the blame. This issue has not just happened in Hackney it is across the board…..Central Government have alot answer for!!!!!!!
I couldn’t vote too … Waltham forest
This is awful and those who registered before the deadline should not be denied their vote. I hope these people are complaining very loudly.
I, too, was denied my vote. Bedford.
So what is the answer, legal eagles, to the many queries here about the loss of our democratic rights? Do we know if these things happened in key marginals, eg constituency of local resident, Ed Balls? Maybe this would be something useful he could sort out for us all in the next little while.
Exactly the same problem in Stockport near Manchester. I have lost my democratic right to vote as no letter was sent to me requesting ID as DWP were unable to verify me even though they have had dealings with me one way or another for over 40 years now. Its a disgrace and don’t know what to do now. I feel sick!!
They are still so bad. I’ve lived in 12 different areas of the UK & the worst council I’ve had to deal with. Council tax, electoral roll, maintenance services. The worst.