FIFERS could lose their vote in September’s independence referendum because of “draconian” measures being taken by the local authority, claims SNP group leader Peter Grant.

He has raised concerns about letters being sent out to people saying the council had “reason to believe” they no longer lived at their registered address.

Councillor Grant (right) said, “I appreciate that the council needs to make sure we don’t have bogus people voting in the referendum or in elections but this is draconian.

“There’s a real risk it will lead to citizens in Fife losing their right to vote on the most important question the people of Scotland have ever been asked.

“The right to vote is one of the most fundamental rights we have and if it’s true that Fife Council intends to deny people this right just because they forgot to send back a form, this is something we should all be concerned about.

“Even the decision to send out these letters just as people are getting ready to go on holiday seems strange. My understanding is that the process of updating the electoral register has not been done in the same way as in previous years.

“There may have been perfectly valid reasons for this but if one of the consequences is that the council denies genuine voters the right to vote in the referendum, people will inevitably start asking questions and some people will inevitably draw their own conclusions.

“People are already asking me if the council had reason to believe that there were bogus people on the register why didn’t they do something about it before? Why was it okay for them to get a vote in the European elections but not in the referendum?” Lawrence Cooper, Fife Council depute electoral registration officer, said, “5320 letters have been sent out with regard to the canvass as part of preparations for the introduction of Individual Electoral Registration in September.

“We have a duty to keep a complete and accurate electoral register. To do this we have to make sure that everyone eligible to vote is on the register. We also have to make sure that anyone not eligible to vote is removed from the register.

“The process for the annual canvass is the same as in previous years. The annual canvass form was issued to all properties in Fife with details of the electors we currently hold on file. No blank forms are issued unless the property was previously empty, in which case it would be addressed to ‘The Occupier’.

“For households which didn’t respond, a reminder was sent out in December, again with a reply-paid envelope. Finally a door-to-door canvass took place for non-responders between January and February.

“After up to four attempts – the initial letter, the written reminder and two visits from the canvasser – we took the view that there is ‘reason to believe’ that the elector is no longer there. During the canvass we also checked these non-responses against council tax records to make sure that no-one with the same name was shown.

“For people returning from holiday to a letter, we would look at each case on its merits but we may require the completion of a registration form if still resident.”