Swindon Green Party says St Andrews Parish Council may be attempting to 'sneak a friend' on to the council in the by-election set for tomorrow - Thursday, 9 June.
The Greens have released a statement criticising the authority for not sending out polling cards to residents to let them know the election is happening.
However, the chair of the council says doing so would have cost about £10,000, and the electorate would have been made aware of the poll thanks to candidates' leafletting.
St Andrews Parish Council is currently composed of nine Conservatives and two independents, and the only two candidates standing in the by-election are a Conservative and Swindon Greens’ Bradley Williams, who received almost 800 votes in May’s borough elections as a candidate for St Andrews.
Mr Williams, who lives in Tadpole Garden Village, said: “The failure of St Andrews Parish Council to send out polling cards to its residents to let them know about the upcoming by-election is effectively voter suppression, denying local people the opportunity to vote for the candidate they want to represent them in their local community.
"Without a polling card, people may not know the election is taking place, let alone where their polling station is.
“The fact that the current parish council is composed almost exclusively of Conservatives and that a Conservative is one of the only two candidates standing in the by-election suggests an attempt to sneak a friend onto the council without allowing local residents to make a choice.
“We’d like St Andrews Parish Council to explain to its residents why they don't deserve to be informed about an upcoming election and why it doesn't think the proper democratic process should be followed."
Parish council chair Vera Tomlinson said in a statement posted on the parish council's website: "Firstly, let me make it clear, that sending out polling cards is not a legal requirement - it comes down to choice and cost.
"I personally enquired from Swindon Borough Council what cost of this election would fall on our Parish to pay. To my astonishment, I was quoted just under £22K, which every household in our parish would have to share, this charge will have to be added to our precept charge next year. The cost of polling cards would be around £5K plus approximately a further £5K for postage.
"Two political parties are contesting this seat on our council and being told that leaflets and cards from the two candidates were planned to be delivered through the parish, which would include the day, date and time of the election, left no doubt in our minds that residents would be well informed about this election taking place.
"I live in our parish and to date have received four of this form of communication, so we made a judgement to save on cost was not to go to the expense of the very costly polling cards.
"As you are all very much aware, the covid-19 pandemic has seen many in our parish either lose their jobs altogether or had their working hours or days cut down. Now added to this we have the cost of living soaring to an unbelievable level many residents are finding life and costs very difficult to cope with hence we made our decision not to add to that burden and cut any costs that we legally could.
"I apologise if our decision has caused concern but our intention, I promise you, was well-meaning, fully considered and in your best interests. I hope this helps you understand why polling cards were not sent out."
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