Headingley postal voters urged to return planning referendum votes promptly due to expected Royal Mail strike action

Residents in Leeds with postal votes for the Headingley Neighbourhood Plan referendum taking place this month are being encouraged to return their completed voting pack as soon as possible to avoid it being caught up in planned Royal Mail strike action.

Postal voting packs will be sent out from around 11 November with the referendum taking place on Thursday 24 November. Royal Mail workers are intending to hold strike action on the day of the referendum which will mean no mail will processed on that day. To ensure their voting pack is received with no issues, voters are encouraged to post them by 22 November at the latest, as any posted after that date cannot be guaranteed to be received in time.

Leeds City Council chief executive and Counting Officer for the referendum Tom Riordan said:

“Due to the planned Royal Mail strike action, we strongly encourage people to return their postal votes as quickly as possible after they receive them. Legally, postal votes that arrive back to us after 10pm on polling day unfortunately won’t be able to be counted.

“Anyone unable to return their postal vote in good time before 24 November can also hand in their completed postal vote pack on polling day between 7am and 10pm at our polling stations. They can also drop it in to our council offices at the Civic Hall at any time up until 10pm on polling day.”

The polling stations open for the Headingley Neighbourhood Plan referendum on 24 November are:

The referendum is being held to determine whether to adopt a neighbourhood plan for Headingley, with details of the plan to be found at https://bit.ly/3EJpsou

Voters looking for more information about the referendum process should contact 0113 2224411 or email electors@leeds.gov.uk.

ENDS

For media enquiries please contact:

Leeds City Council communications and marketing,

Email: communicationsteam@leeds.gov.uk

Tel: 0113 378 6007