Student unable to vote because Cardiff Uni didn’t pass her details on

Cardiff University has failed a student in their hopes to vote in this year's election.

On a university email, Cardiff uni offered students "a complete enrolment by registering to vote".

However, one Cardiff student who used this method will be unable to vote after the uni failed to pass her details on to the electoral office in time.

Megan Malthouse, a first year student at Cardiff University, decided to complete the application in hopes of "killing two birds with one stone" by enrolling to university and registering to vote.

Megan told The Cardiff Tab: "The last page of the form said something along the lines of ‘you are now registered to vote and you should expect your polling card in the next 10 working days’ or something very similar". With this information, Megan "didn’t see any need to be concerned".

However, the night before the General Election, Megan received an email of apology from the university. They expressed "with regret" they were unable to pass on her information to the electoral office in time and Megan is unable to vote.

Megan told The Cardiff Tab: "I just feel so let down that they gave no hint to me at any point in the process that I may need to register using a different method. Especially given that I have attended political debates during this election period to make sure I felt informed with my decision, to be told so last minute is completely soul destroying."

The majority of students, some 5,800, who did register to vote through SIMS were registered successfully. However, it was not successful for all.

The disappointment of being unable to vote in Cardiff has made Megan consider travelling seven hours home, spending £40 on transport and missing university lectures just to exercise her vote.

A Cardiff University spokesperson told The Cardiff Tab: “As a result of an administrative error some students have not been registered to vote. We are deeply sorry and apologise, unreservedly.

"We have contacted all students we believe are affected. As soon as the issue was brought to our attention, we did everything possible to put it right. Unfortunately, the legal deadline for registration had passed.

"In addition, in the run-up to the election we actively encouraged all students to register to vote through official voter registration channels. We will undertake a full review of our processes to ensure this can never happen again."

Today is the General Election and you can find your local polling station here.

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