What are you doing on Thursday 6th May 2021?

Can you guarantee that you will be able to go the polling station to vote? Probably not. Life might throw a curveball that day – maybe it’s the kids who have not done their homework and now need last-minute help, or maybe it’s that colleague who forgot to refill the coffee pot in the break room, and you’ve been grumpy all day because of it and you simply cannot be bothered going out.

Either way, if you cannot guarantee that you can go to the polling station, please register for a postal vote.

We can hear the whispers already: “But… I’ve heard that postal votes are RIGGED”.

Along with “The BBC stole the referendum in 2014”, the postal vote fraud is one of the most popular conspiracy theories among supporters of Scottish independence, and it’s by far the most unhelpful, because it loses the SNP seats.

Simply put, there is no evidence of fraud in postal votes. In a blog post, Doug Daniel, Member Support Convener, explains the whole process and debunks some of the most common myths about voting by post.

The only people who benefit from Scottish independence supporters not signing up for postal votes are opponents of Scottish independence. Turnout among postal voters is 21% higher than among persons voting at polling stations– postal voters are more likely to vote. The Tories are fully aware of this and, in the run-up of every election, they encourage their supporters to sign up for postal votes. And so does the SNP, but because of these conspiracy theories and the mistrust in the system they create, our supporters are reluctant to sign up for postal votes. Here is the stark reality: in the 2019 Westminster Election, there was only 553 votes between Douglas Ross and Laura Mitchell. We did very well at the ballot box, but we got heavily defeated in the postal votes.

IF THE SNP HAD BEEN AS EFFICIENT AS THE TORIES AT REGISTERING SUPPORTERS FOR POSTAL VOTES, MORAY WOULD NOW HAVE AN SNP MP.

Voting by post is a safe and secure way to make sure your voice is heard, even if you cannot make it to the polling station on the day of the election.

You can apply for a postal vote by going to this link, downloading the form, printing it off, filling in the information and then returning it. Or you can use our Postal Voting Form Generator to fill in your information and you can then simply print, sign and return the form.