Council to investigate Newcastle-under-Lyme voting issues

A review into the 8 June parliamentary election will be carried out following social media complaints from constituents who were unable to vote in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

The vote, which Labour’s Paul Farrelly won, is currently being investigated by the Association of Electoral Administrators. Constituents complained that some of the postal votes had not been issued, and that there were problems joining the Electoral Register online.

Students from Keele University went to vote on the day of the election and were being told that their names ‘were not on the list’. At least 140 students complained about the problems.

Tom Snape, chairman of the Keele Students Union, said: “There are thoughts of a general problem with the council being able to handle the number of voters.”

John Hellgren, Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council’s chief executive, said: “We have commissioned the most suitably qualified organisation in the country to investigate the issues and to determine whether there were any shortcomings in relation to the conduct of the election. We are hopeful the association can start its work immediately and produce their report as soon as possible.”