Postal votes in the 2015 general election: West Oxford and Abingdon
Dear Vale of White Horse District Council,
I am writing to ask about postal votes in the West Oxford and Abingdon constituency for the general election 2015. Please see below a response I have received from the returning officer of East Oxford.
Can you please
1) Explain how this situation with the postal votes came to happen?
2) Why you needed to get assistance from Oxford City Council to issue postal votes?
3) How many people have been affected by this problem?
4) How many applications for postal votes you received in the run up to tomorrow's general election?
Yours faithfully,
Mike Magee
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From: THOMAS Jeremy J.
Oxford City Council
6 May 2015
Dear Mr. Magee,
Given the substance of your request, I will respond immediately and personally. I am the Returning Officer (RO) for the Oxford East constituency.
I am not the RO for the Oxford West and Abingdon constituency. The RO for that constituency is David Buckle who is the Chief Executive of the Vale of White Horse Council. The issuing of postal votes for that constituency was undertaken by that Council and the issuing of postal votes was not therefore ' outsourced' by me to them. It was and is their responsibility.
What has happened in the last few days is that I have agreed to assist them by re-issuing postal votes on their behalf from the Town Hall in Oxford. As I write this, I can tell you that we re-issued approximately 150 on their behalf. Replacement packs may be requested up to 5pm tomorrow and completed packs should be returned to the RO at the Vale ( or any polling station in the constituency) by close of poll at 10pm tomorrow.
I hope that assists. If you have a complaint then you need to direct that to the RO at the Vale.
Yours sincerely,
Jeremy Thomas.
Dear Vale of White Horse District Council,
I made an FOI request about postal votes earlier this year - by law your authority should normally have replied by the 4th June 2015.
Please advise.
Yours faithfully,
Mike Magee
Dear Mr Magee,
Thank you for your email and I apologise that you have not yet received a response.
Please could you let me know the reference number that you were given when you initially sent the request in please?
I have contacted my colleagues regarding a response.
Kind regards
Sarah Boxall
HR Assistant
________________________________________
From: Mike Magee <[FOI #266933 email]>
Sent: 05 June 2015 06:40
To: FOI Vale
Subject: Re: Freedom of Information request - Postal votes in the 2015 general election: West Oxford and Abingdon
Dear Vale of White Horse District Council,
I made an FOI request about postal votes earlier this year - by law your authority should normally have replied by the 4th June 2015.
Please advise.
Yours faithfully,
Mike Magee
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Dear Mr Magee,
Please can you provide me with the reference number you were sent so I can investigate further.
Kind regards
FoI Team
Vale of White Horse District Council
________________________________________
From: Mike Magee <[FOI #266933 email]>
Sent: 05 June 2015 06:40
To: FOI Vale
Subject: Re: Freedom of Information request - Postal votes in the 2015 general election: West Oxford and Abingdon
Dear Vale of White Horse District Council,
I made an FOI request about postal votes earlier this year - by law your authority should normally have replied by the 4th June 2015.
Please advise.
Yours faithfully,
Mike Magee
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #266933 email]
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
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Dear Mr Magee,
Please can you provide me with the reference number you were given when making the request and I will investigate this for you.
Kind regards
FoI Team
Vale of White Horse District Council
________________________________________
From: Mike Magee <[FOI #266933 email]>
Sent: 05 June 2015 06:40
To: FOI Vale
Subject: Re: Freedom of Information request - Postal votes in the 2015 general election: West Oxford and Abingdon
Dear Vale of White Horse District Council,
I made an FOI request about postal votes earlier this year - by law your authority should normally have replied by the 4th June 2015.
Please advise.
Yours faithfully,
Mike Magee
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #266933 email]
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
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Dear FOI Vale,
I don't have a reference number. This is an FOI request that's been dragging on now...
Yours sincerely,
Mike Magee
Dear Mr Magee,
I do apologise for the delay in responding.
I have copied in Steven Corrigan (Democratics Service Manager) who will be able to help further.
Kind regards
FoI Team
Vale of White Horse District Council
________________________________________
From: Mike Magee <[FOI #266933 email]>
Sent: 17 June 2015 21:44
To: FOI Vale
Subject: Re: Freedom of Information request - Postal votes in the 2015 general election: West Oxford and Abingdon
Dear FOI Vale,
I don't have a reference number. This is an FOI request that's been dragging on now...
Yours sincerely,
Mike Magee
Dear Mr Magee
I would be grateful if you would send me details of your request which I have not received. I will provide you with a response by the end of this week.
Regards
Steven
Steven Corrigan
Job title: Democratic Services Manager
Service name: Legal and Democratic Services
South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils
Visit us at: www.southoxon.gov.uk, www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk
________________________________________
From: FOI Vale
Sent: 23 June 2015 16:32
To: Mike Magee
Cc: Steven Corrigan; FOI Vale
Subject: Re: Freedom of Information request - Postal votes in the 2015 general election: West Oxford and Abingdon
Dear Mr Magee,
I do apologise for the delay in responding.
I have copied in Steven Corrigan (Democratics Service Manager) who will be able to help further.
Kind regards
FoI Team
Vale of White Horse District Council
________________________________________
From: Mike Magee <[FOI #266933 email]>
Sent: 17 June 2015 21:44
To: FOI Vale
Subject: Re: Freedom of Information request - Postal votes in the 2015 general election: West Oxford and Abingdon
Dear FOI Vale,
I don't have a reference number. This is an FOI request that's been dragging on now...
Yours sincerely,
Mike Magee
Dear Vale of White Horse District Council,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Vale of White Horse District Council's handling of my FOI request 'Postal votes in the 2015 general election: West Oxford and Abingdon'.
It is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, you should have responded by now.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address, if it helps: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p...
Yours faithfully,
Mike Magee
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