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Close results in constituencies at the election could be challenged in the high court because of delayed postal votes, experts have said.
Caroline Morris, a barrister and reader in public law at Queen Mary University of London, said people could get a hearing if four constituents petition the high court arguing their vote could have had a material impact on the result.
The prospect of legal challenges comes as thousands of voters have complained of not receiving their postal votes on time. In Scotland several councils have opened special units to provide duplicate ballot papers.
Jane Golding, co-chair of the campaign group British in Europe, said members had complained about delays in proxy votes arriving.
Pete Jones, a British citizen who lives in Switzerland with his partner and daughter, condemned the “utter incompetence from those involved in the organisation of postal votes”.
Two of his family received their ballot pack on different days but he has yet to receive his, leaving him with no possibility of voting unless he flies back to the UK on Thursday.
Morris said the system appeared to be under “a great deal of strain”, partly because of the compressed timetable for the election.
A judge could open a fact-finding inquiry to assess whether a re-run of a vote should be called. In an egregious case a judge has powers under the Representation of the People Act 1983, part III to call for a new ballot straight away.
While the bar is high and courts will not order re-runs in general, it is not without precedent, said Morris.
In 1997, there was a re-run in Winchester when the Liberal Democrat Mark Oaten won with a majority of just two votes. After a legal challenge over an administrative bungle that left 54 ballot papers not stamped correctly, the high court ordered a fresh ballot and Oaten was elected with a majority of more than 21,000 seats.
In 2015 Diane Abbott also faced a legal challenge after registration papers did not show up at polling booths, meaning some voters were denied their chance to participate in the election.
However, Morris said the challenge was unsuccessful as it was deemed that a re-run would not have changed the result because she had a commanding majority.
She said: “It’s very hard [to get a re-run] but not impossible. The court has to answer two questions. First of all, has there been a breach of electoral law? Then there are administrative irregularities and the court would have to establish what went wrong.
“But the main question is whether the error made a material difference to the outcome of the election? If the loss of postal votes [is] in a particular constituency where the contest is very narrow, then it could make a difference.”
She also said the “compressed timetable” for this election puts “pressure on people to get things done quickly and when people do things quickly mistakes can be made”.
“Even if everything is done correctly, and you are relying on a third party such as the Royal Mail and they make a mistake, the impact of that is compounded because of the lack of time,” she said.
Councils could not legally do anything before the deadline for candidates to register closed on 7 June, or complete list of ballot packs for postal voting until the deadline for applications closed on 18 June.
They were able, however, to send out postal packs earlier to those who had registered for votes earlier or had long-term postal option in place, the Electoral Commission said.
A South Ayrshire council spokesperson said: “We are aware of delays nationally with postal votes.
“The delays have not been a result of local processes, and South Ayrshire council have taken urgent steps to ensure that, where possible, all residents can cast their vote on Thursday.”
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Jay Slater’s mother spoke of her “pain and agony” in a new statement after Spanish police ended their land search for the missing teenager.
Debbie Duncan thanked the Guardia Civil who had “worked tirelessly up in the mountains where Jay’s last phone call was traced” and was continuing to investigate why Mr Slater had travelled so far away from his Tenerife accommodation.
She said despite their efforts over the past 12 days the family have no more information on his whereabouts.
In a statement issued through British overseas missing persons charity LBT Global, she said: “My son, Jay Dean Slater, came to the holiday island of Tenerife on 13 June with his friend to attend a music festival. On 17 June after not returning to his apartment he was reported as a missing person.
“Jay is a normal guy who is in his third year of an apprenticeship, and he is a very popular young man with a large circle of friends.
“We are a very close family and are absolutely devastated about his disappearance. Words cannot describe the pain and agony we are experiencing. He is our beautiful boy with his whole life ahead of him and we just want to find him.
“We do not have any information on his whereabouts. The Guardia Civil have worked tirelessly up in the mountains where Jay’s last phone call was traced. They conducted a land search for 12 days which involved every resource they had available.
“Although the land search ended, the Spanish police still continue with their investigations into why Jay had travelled to the location so far away from his accommodation.
“We offer our sincere thanks to the Spanish authorities who continue to follow lines of enquiries.”
Ms Duncan also referenced the fake rumours spreading across social media following Mr Slater’s disappearance.
She added: “We are aware of the conspiracy theories and speculation on social media and some websites, and can only describe this as vile, the negative comments are extremely distressing to our family.
“We also embrace the love and support we have received from across the globe. It has not gone unnoticed, especially his home town in Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire.
“As a family we would like the world to respect our privacy at this present time.”
On Friday, the Guardia Civil had appealed for volunteer associations, such as firefighters and individual volunteers who were experts in rugged terrain to assist in a “busqueda masiva” – massive search – on Saturday.
The search in the village of Masca, near his last-known location, took in a steep rocky area, including ravines, trails and paths.
He had travelled to an Airbnb in Masca and the two men said to have rented the property were later ruled “not relevant” to the case, according to reports.
TV investigator Mark Williams-Thomas flew out to Tenerife last week after claiming he could solve the mystery behind the 19-year-old’s disappearance in three days.
He said: “We still have a number of outstanding actions, but have given the family a preliminary breakdown of findings. In light of the police search ending I have suggested the family should use the GoFundMe money to continue the search using experts in searching.
“I would appeal again, if you have any ‘direct information’ having spoken to Jay or anyone that was with him overnight June 16 and 17 and have not yet been in contact, please do so.”
by Ben King
In his interview earlier, Sir Keir Starmer was asked by BBC political editor Chris Mason: "Will people pay income tax on the state pension under Labour?"
"The position for pensioners in relation to tax will be exactly as it is now," Starmer replied.
"That could mean yes, couldn’t it, in future?" Mason asked.
"That is the position set out in the last Budget under this government and that will remain the position," Starmer said.
BBC Verify has looked at this issue before. The position after the last Budget was that pensioners relying solely on the state pension were on course to potentially pay income tax in 2027-28, because the state pension in that year (£12,578) is forecast to marginally overtake the tax-free personal allowance (£12,570).
But at the end of May, the Conservatives pledged to raise this personal allowance for pensioners only to £13,710 by 2027-28 to protect them from paying this tax on their state pensions.
The policy is called "triple lock plus" and, in his BBC interview, the Labour leader did not commit to match it.
