APPLICATIONS for postal votes in Kennet have increased by around 200 per cent.

Officials at Kennet District Council were finalising the number of applications yesterday but said they had received more than 11,000.

This compares with the 3,700 postal votes issued for the parliamentary election and county council elections in 2001.

For those elections the figure was higher than anticipated because a number of polling stations were closed due to foot and mouth movement restriction.

Jonathan Gale, electoral services officer at Kennet, said there had been no evidence of any of the political parties applying for huge numbers of postal votes.

He said: "There is no evidence of electoral fraud. The parties locally have not got involved with applying for postal votes."

For the first time people could apply for a postal vote when they returned the annual register of electors form last year and more than 7,500 people did so.

Since the election was announced Kennet has received around 3,500 more applications for postal votes.

The deadline for applications was 5pm on Tuesday and staff have been seconded from other departments within the council to help produce and check the documentation needed to be sent out to voters.

Voting forms were due to be sent out to the remaining postal voters yesterday.

Mr Gale said: "The deadlines for elections are very challenging. Issuing a postal vote is very complicated. Everyone who applies has to have five unique pieces of paper generated for them with individual numbers. We have to make sure that every voter has the correct declaration and ballot papers. It's very time consuming."

He said some people who had applied for postal votes had perhaps not fully understood the system.

"We have had phone calls from people who have received a postal vote from us after ticking the box for a postal vote on their annual register of electors form saying they didn't realise they had asked for a vote. I suppose it's human nature that when you receive an official looking form from the council with a prepaid envelope you fill it in and send it back."

Electors who have requested a postal vote and who have not received it by tomorrow should contact the returning officer on (01380) 724911 to make arrangements to collect a replacement from the offices at Kennet.

Postal votes have to be received at Kennet District Council on May 5. Any received on May 6 will not be counted.

Once the postal votes have been sent out Mr Gale will be turning his attention to preparing the ballot boxes to be despatched to the polling stations and training the staff who will run the stations.

In the Kennet area there will be 190 staff and in Calne and Melksham there will be an additional 50 or 60 staff.

For the first time the parish of Roundway will have a polling station.

Parishioners have previously gone to a variety of polling stations including Downland School.

For this election Kennet has secured the new cadet centre at Le Marchant Barracks for the Roundway polling station.

The entrance to the cadet centre is almost opposite the entrance to Focus and Lidl.

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