Not so much a pet hate as a bit of a rant at our local government's inefficiency. We go on holiday on 1st June this year and we'll be away when the referendum on Britain's membership of the EC is being held on 23rd June, so, thinking ahead, I registered us for postal votes a couple of weeks ago - plenty of time, you would think.
We received formal acknowledgments 10 days ago that we were properly registered for postal votes and that our ballot papers would be sent out "nearer to the referendum date". This latter comment concerned me a little - when exactly would they be sending these out? I e-mailed them yesterday and received the following reply:
"The Returning Officer is responsible for the issue of ballot
papers. I understand the initial issue is 2 June. Your only other option is to
appoint a proxy to vote on your behalf. Application form attached. The
completed forms can be scanned back."
That's a fat lot of good for us - we'll be gone by then. The PM announced the date of the referendum as long ago as 20th February. Why can't they send us the ballot papers before 2nd June then?
Bah humbug.
