Postal vote letter anyone?

[DRiddle]

Regular observers of this forum will already know the importance of targeting the postal votes. The number of registered postal voters varies but it's typically around 700+ per ward. Of that around 70% of people who receive a postal vote actually use it. This is a very high % conversion compared to regular 'normal registered voters', which in Hartlepool has dropped to the lowest rate of voting in the country of just 24% (in local elections).

Due to the high proportion of postal voters who actually vote, prospective councillors (who know what they're doing) usually send a letter personally addressed to the postal voter, timed to land on their doormat on the same morning as the actual postal votes themselves.

The logic being the householder(s) get their postal vote and think "Right who shall i vote for" and then in the next breath they open a polite letter from a candidate asking for their vote.

Now if EVERY candidate does this successfully,  then the voter has a choice to make. BUT if ONLY ONE candidate sends the letter, they have a much higher chance of getting the vote, especially with floating postal voters.

So, to come to the main point, my sources indicate that there are possibly 3 key wards where the Labour candidates has reportedly NOT directly engaged the electorate in the form of a 'postal vote letter'.

I'm told Labour did not directly target postal voters in the way i've described in the Headland and Harbour, Hart and Jesmond.

IF that's true, they've just given themselves a massive uphill struggle in those wards.

You can't WIN a local election seat just by targeting postal votes, but you can pretty much LOSE the seat if you don't.

Labours candidates in those wards are Aileen Kendon on Hart, Ian Cawley on Headland and Harbour and Amy Prince in Jesmond.

As far as i'm aware all the candidates are in the 'anti-SCABAL'/new wave of Labour members, surely they haven't been this naive to make a mistake like this?

Can anybody confirm this? Has anyone who is a registered postal voter had a letter from a Labour candidate which arrived on or near the day of your postal vote? I'm asking especially in Hart, H and H and Jesmond.

[mk1]

Might be the problem of those you oppose being in control of the information that links postal voters to Wards. The possibility  the 'Group Leader' does not want certain candidates to win?

[crisstw]

I'm in Jesmond, I think I got personally addressed letters from Amy Prince and Sandra Belcher around the time of my postal vote... Both went in the bin

[pieface]

Confirm targeted personalised letters received in Hart Wart. Think it is disgraceful misuse of electoral register.
The labour one was full of facebook buddy quotes and kept mention of labour to least minimal possible.
Independent one was mostly a reprint of one received at the recent by-election.

[DRiddle]

Looks like this was duff information then. I was surprised when I was told this hence why I was looking for confirmation. One thing Labour do well is organise their postal vote campaign and their canvassing in general.

Now that's rumour is put to bed I stand by my prediction on the other thread about Labours overall position, but it'll be tight.

[ReturntoZenda]

Aileen's leaflet landed on my mat recently, and I can confirm it was little more than a dig at the Independent and a catalogue of testimonials including one from the parents of her agent from last time round. They must have been really scraping the barrel to have to resort to in-house back slapping.

[Topcat]

Although I realise some people have to rely on the postal vote because of various reasons I am not a great fan of them ,I am always suspicious that they have to pass through too many hands before the count.I always go to cast my vote in person then it's straight from the sealed ballot box to the counting table and hopefully tamper proof.Mind I always was the suspicious type.

[diSme]

I received no personally addressed letters in the rossmere area, and I'm a postal voter.

I've actually received nothing at all apart from a couple of leaflets from the IU candidate. It looks to me like nobody else is putting in the legwork...

[Lucy Lass-Tick]

Word has it that there's a huge drop (c. 50%) in the number of postal votes which have been sent back to be checked by HBC.  If people haven't sent the ballot papers back could it be that they're just not bothering this year? If so, will that be echoed in the polling stations on Thursday with an ultra low turnout?

[DRiddle]

I think it'll be low. Even with the Brexit thing and the anger finally spreading town wide about the SCABAL, i still think it'll be a poor show.

Can it go lower than the lowest in the whole of England last year?

I think possibly. Is the figure to 'beat' around 17,000 actual votes?

I'll take a guess it'll drop maybe just a shade over 16,500 this time.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-47666080

[jeffh]

I think it'll be low. Even with the Brexit thing and the anger finally spreading town wide about the SCABAL, i still think it'll be a poor show.

Can it go lower than the lowest in the whole of England last year?

I think possibly. Is the figure to 'beat' around 17,000 actual votes?

I'll take a guess it'll drop maybe just a shade over 16,500 this time.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-47666080

A low turn out could help those of us who are concerned about the future of our town - there is a better chance that these like minded people make the effort whilst the lethargic Labour supporters could well stay at home

[Inspector Knacker]

Got Cranney's  'Address to the Nation'.
Reading, sorry, attempting to read it was a touch difficult,  as I've seen user instructions for a South Korean DVD player written by a bloke in Seoul whose only contact with the English language was pirate copy of 'Mr Bean gets elected' with Afghani sub titles.
Lots and lots and lots of smiling pics as he is greeted by his fans (It may be an attempt to break the Guinness Record for the most pics of one face on a folded sheet of A4).

[diSme]

I'm aware of a number of people who are rather pis*ed off with the current mob's shenanigans, however whether they actually bother voting is a different story.

It seems to me that people are getting somewhat disillusioned with the whole process, which I can kind of understand.

It's a difficult topic to discuss with people as most just don't know what to do for the best, myself included at one point.

I guess we just have to wait and see what happens, and hope for a positive outcome both for the town, and the individual wards....