Hackney voting issues: Diane Abbott slams Hackney voter registration chaos “a disgrace”
Hackney MP Diane Abbott has slammed the local council's handling of polling in the borough as hundreds of voters turning out to cast their ballot in the General Election have been told they are not registered to vote.
Abbott, who is defending her seat in Hackney North and Stoke Newington, called the situation a disgrace.
"Hackney officers who are highly paid have let down the people of Hackney," she told City A.M., "why didn't they make contingency plans for numbers?"
Hackney council has blamed technical problems for creating a backlog which means hundreds of residents who registered to vote online before the April deadline are turning up at local polling stations to discover they can't vote.
Abbott told City A.M. hundreds of constituents had been in touch about the problems and that she will be complaining to the Electoral Commission.