A printing mishap has left more than 1,300 postal vote applicants without their ballot papers ahead of Thursday's election for the Welsh Parliament, Cardiff Council has confirmed. The issue came to light on Monday when it emerged that postal votes had not been delivered to voters in the Caerdydd Ffynnon Taf and Caerdydd Penarth constituencies.
Council confirms printing failure
Cardiff Council stated that the print run for supplementary voting packs scheduled for last week did not fully take place. A spokesperson explained: 'Following further discussions with the local authority’s contracted print provider, it has been confirmed that, while the relevant data was received from the Council, the print run for the supplementary voting packs scheduled for last week did not fully take place.'
Initially, 1,388 packs were not delivered to electors in the affected constituencies. The council noted that almost 47,000 postal vote packs have been issued in recent weeks, with more than 26,500 already returned.
Royal Mail blames lack of printing
Royal Mail said the postal votes were 'not printed' and 'never handed over' to them for delivery. In response, Cardiff Council arranged for the affected packs to be hand-delivered by its staff, with a small number sent by priority mail where appropriate.
The council spokesperson added: 'Our immediate priority is to enable members of the electorate affected by the issue with the supplementary voter pack print run to exercise their democratic right.'
New voting system in Wales
This election marks the first use of a new voting system in Wales, where the country is divided into 16 super-constituencies, each sending six members to the Senedd. Seats are allocated proportionally based on vote share. Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru, Reform, and the Greens have fielded full slates of candidates in all 16 constituencies.
The enlargement of the Senedd from 60 to 96 seats, combined with new constituencies and a changed voting system, means direct comparisons with previous election results are not possible.
