HUNDREDS of voters in Cardiff could be left unable to cast their ballots after postal voting packs failed to arrive, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have warned.
The party says its canvassers have spoken to a number of residents in Caerdydd Ffynnon Taf who applied for postal votes but have still not received them ahead of Thursday’s Senedd election.
Cardiff Council has admitted there is a problem affecting some postal vote packs sent in a second mailing.
In a message to voters, the council said: “We are aware of an issue affecting some voters whose postal vote packs were dispatched in the second mailing. We apologise for this inconvenience.
“To ensure you receive your postal vote in time, we will be hand-delivering postal vote packs on Tuesday, May 5, 2026.”
The council said affected voters who are at home when packs are delivered can complete them and hand them straight back to the delivery driver, who will take them to the Postal Vote Opening Team at County Hall.
Those not at home will have their packs posted through the letterbox. Completed ballots can then be posted as normal, taken to County Hall, or handed in at any polling station in Cardiff on polling day, Thursday, May 7, between 7:00am and 10:00pm.
The Liberal Democrats say one young voter, who is travelling back to university in England this weekend, will miss the hand-delivery and may lose their chance to vote.
Cllr Rodney Berman, the Liberal Democrat lead candidate for Caerdydd Ffynnon Taf, said: “This is a scandal. Many people who applied to vote by post may have been robbed of their democratic voice.
“People have done what we ask them to and engaged with the democratic process and the system has let them down.
“Once the election is over, there must be a full investigation into how this was allowed to happen, to ensure that people are never disenfranchised in this way again.”
Cardiff Council said all postal votes are sent by first-class priority election mail and that the matter has been raised with both its printers and Royal Mail.
A council spokesperson said: “The Council has issued almost 47,000 postal vote packs in recent weeks and, to date, more than 26,500 have already been returned.
“Following reports from some voters that they hadn’t yet received their postal vote packs, we have been working urgently to investigate the issue and have identified that the affected packs relate to a supplementary print run for the Caerdydd Ffynnon Taf and Caerdydd Penarth constituencies.
“We have received assurances from our print provider, Civica, that the relevant data was received correctly from the Council and that the packs were printed and dispatched to Royal Mail, who continue to investigate.
“In response to enquiries from individual voters, we have already reissued a number of postal vote packs. Replacement packs will be hand delivered to the remaining affected households on Tuesday 5 May, with a small number reissued by priority mail.
“Voters who receive a replacement pack can complete it and either return it to our staff at the time of delivery, hand it in at any polling station before 10pm on Thursday, or deliver it to County Hall before 10pm on polling day.
“We regret any inconvenience experienced and are focused on ensuring all those affected are able to vote.”
