A WOMAN was incensed at not being able to vote in Thursday’s General Election.

Seaford resident Stephanie Hike said she applied for a postal vote and received confirmation she was on the postal list, but her postal voting form never arrived.

The 72-year-old, who has mobility problems, decided to vote in person on Thursday, and managed to get to her polling station at Seaford Head School.

She said: “I applied for a postal vote in good time and have voted this way many times before.

“When I got to the polling station I told staff I was originally supposed to have a postal vote, but the paperwork never arrived.

“Initially I was told it was fine, and to get in the queue.

“But when I got to the front they told me I couldn’t vote, even though they had identified me and I was on the list.”

Ms Hike said a staff member had called the parliamentary office and had been told she could not vote in person.

She said: “They told me it was out of their hands, and what the parliamentary office says, goes.”

Ms Hike said she asked who she should make a complaint to. She said she was told they did not know.

She said: “All they could tell me was that it was ‘probably Royal Mail’s fault’, but I received a postal vote form for the local elections fine, and I’m on the voters’ list at this address.

“I work from home and I get a lot of mail every day diverted from my old address.

“I have a friend in Bournemouth who also didn’t receive her postal voting form, but she was able to vote in person.”

“My concern is, how many other people has that happened to?

When Ms Hike left the polling station, she said the three main candidates for the Lewes constituency were there.

She said: “What struck me also was how disinterested the candidates were when I told them what had happened.

“Someone could have come back in with me and insisted on it, but none of them did.

“From the staff, I just got a shrug of the shoulders and ‘It’s not our fault’.”

Stephanie, who had walked to the polling station in the pouring rain to vote, said it was the first time she had not been able to exercise her right to do so.

She said: “There were so many people coming in absolutely soaked from the rain.

“I expect a lot of people did not bother in that weather, but I had made the effort, and I’m 72 with mobility problems.”

A Lewes District Council spokeswoman said: “We are looking into this case.

“We will contact the resident concerned once we have more information.”

Conservative candidate Maria Caulfield held on to her seat in the Lewes constituency where Ms Hike votes.

She had 2,457 more votes than the Lib Dem candidate Oli Henman. The Labour candidate Kate Chappell came in third with 3,206 votes.