Letter: After trying to get my dad, 87, on to the electoral register I wondered how other people were faced with such bureaucratic bungling

A letter about the electoral office and proxy votes:
By Letters
Published 29th Jul 2023, 06:45 BST
Updated 29th Jul 2023, 06:45 BST
The Electoral Office of Northern Ireland headquarters in Church Street. The proxy vote application form was hand delivered and accepted but later rejected for not having a Digital Registration NumberThe Electoral Office of Northern Ireland headquarters in Church Street. The proxy vote application form was hand delivered and accepted but later rejected for not having a Digital Registration Number
The Electoral Office of Northern Ireland headquarters in Church Street. The proxy vote application form was hand delivered and accepted but later rejected for not having a Digital Registration Number

On Monday 24 July I read with interest the BBC NI online article entitled 'Thousands of absentee ballot requests rejected’, and I have since read stories or letters about this in the News Letter (July 25, 26 and 27, see links below).

My elderly father (aged 87) was eventually able to vote in the May 2023 Local Government election but it was no thanks to the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland (EONI) administrative process. On April 26, his application form for a proxy vote was hand delivered to EONI offices in Belfast. On delivery, I asked for a confirmation of receipt which was refused. The EONI staff member opened the envelope the form was in, looked at it, said it was ok, and stamped it.

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On April 26, his application form for a proxy vote was hand delivered to EONI offices in Belfast. On delivery, I asked for a confirmation of receipt which was refused. The EONI staff member at the desk assigned for receiving postal applications opened the envelope the form was in, looked at it, said it was ok, and stamped it. I left with no idea what would happen next or when.

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Nearly two weeks later election day was getting closer and we had heard nothing. I was wondering 'has the form got lost in their system?' (the very reason I had asked for a receipt) so I called EONI on Tuesday May 9. They said my father's application had been rejected because his 'Digital Registration Number' (DRN) was not on the form. I asked what this was and they said DRN were issued after the 2021 canvas for digital registration. Why had the EONI member of staff who appeared to 'check' the form not mention this missing piece of information?

Thankfully I eventually located Dad's DRN and managed to submit a further application the next day. This was the final day applications so again I hand delivered the form and asked when we would hear about the outcome (the election being just over a week away). They said they had no idea – I was told the form would go "to another team" and the reception staff couldn't tell me when we would hear about it.

Thankfully a proxy voting card arrived just in time. In fact three separate pieces of correspondence arrived from EONI all on the same date, all franked first class. One was a rejection letter re the first application, one was a complaints form (seriously), and one contained the proxy voting card (success at last)! I felt like I'd run an administrative assault course but I also felt angry. I had been driven by a determination that Dad would not be disenfranchised but I also wondered how other people were faring, faced with such bureaucratic bungling. Those on their own for example, or without someone to do all the form-filling, arranging signatures (medical staff have to counter sign), hand delivery. As I’d already spent so much time on these activities, the complaints form went unfilled. My experience had left me feeling that this would be a futile exercise anyway and Dad had his proxy vote.

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The BBC article indicates that in a report published in September 2022, the Electoral Commission called on the UK government to review the DRN process "to ensure it does not prevent people from accessing their vote". Having a DRN is not the problem, indeed it is a crucial identifier. What about EONI accountability for their woeful administrative processes?

Name and address with the editor, East Belfast

Tom Elliott MLA: It is alarming that so many people lost chance to vote

Electoral Office to review how almost 5000 postal vote applications were rejected

Related topics:BBCEast BelfastElectoral CommissionGovernment