Election turmoil over double postal voting packs

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The North East's local elections due on 2 May were in turmoil today after postal voters in part of Newcastle were sent two copies of their voting pack, potentially enabling them to submit two votes instead of one in the elections for their councillor, metro mayor and police and crime commissioner (PCC).

The duplicate packs were sent out in error in the past few days by the electoral registration department at Newcastle City Council to postal voters in the North Jesmond ward.

Each pack contained one voting form each for a councillor for North Jesmond, the new position of North East Mayor and a new Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner.

The voting forms themselves were all correct, but in one set of voting packs the accompanying instructions told voters incorrectly that they could vote for two members of the city council, not one.

This writer was among those to receive duplicate voting packs. He received a first pack late last week, completed the voting forms at the weekend and submitted them by post on Sunday. Today (Monday 22 April) he received a second pack.

When he called the city council's electoral department in his role as a voter he was told that the department recognised this was a serious error. The department was receiving a large number calls and an investigation was under way. The council would be  writing to affected voters.

It is not known whether the error will be considered a serious enough threat to the security of the vote to make it invalid. The Electoral Commission is among those approached for a reaction.

Guidance from the Electoral Commission

A spokesperson for the Electoral Commission told North East Bylines this evening: "We are aware of a printer error that resulted in duplicate postal votes being sent in Newcastle. We have provided guidance and advice to the local authority, and they have taken steps to communicate the error to voters, candidates and agents. They are putting processes in place to ensure that people are unable to vote twice as a result of the error."

The elections on 2 May will be critical for the whole North East, as voters are being asked to choose a first regional mayor to head a combined authority stretching from Berwick to Barnard Castle with control over a new 30-year devolution deal and a budget worth at least £1.4bn.

The PCC election will choose a successor to Kim McGuinness, who is among the candidates for mayor, and the North Jesmond election for the city council is expected to be a close contest between Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

"Widespread confusion"

North Jesmond LibDem councillor Philip Browne said: "Postal voters in North Jesmond have raised their concerns with us after many received duplicate ballot packs, both for the local elections and for the PCC and Mayoral elections. This is causing widespread confusion. 

"We alerted the Democratic Services team [at the council] as soon as the issue came to our attention on Saturday and are calling on the election authorities to deal with this issue as a matter of the utmost urgency. 

"We would be very concerned if there is any risk of someone being able to vote twice or of someone having their vote excluded for sending back the wrong ballot paper. That would be a threat to the democratic process.  Residents need to be informed urgently which ballot paper to use and why the error has occurred.

"We are aware that an investigation is under way and we await an explanation as to the cause of the error and the plan of action to resolve it."

Statement from Newcastle City Council

A Newcastle City Council spokesperson said:

"A supplier issue has led to postal voters in the North Jesmond ward receiving a second voting pack for the upcoming elections in error. While the ballot sheet for the local government election is correct in both packs, the second pack issued contains incorrect instructions on the covering letter issued alongside the ballot paper. 

"We were notified of this supplier error and have quickly put measures in place, in cooperation with the Electoral Commission and candidates, agents and existing members in the sole affected ward, to clarify instructions and to support our residents to vote. We are contacting all affected voters directly to rectify the issue and we apologise for any inconvenience caused."

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