Polling card misprint affects 100,000 voters

The mistake does not affect postal poll card voters, the council said

About 100,000 polling cards are having to be resent following a printing error, a council has said.

Voters in three constituencies on Teesside were sent cards that did not include the official names of polling stations.

Stockton Borough Council said it was working with the printing company responsible, to find out how the error happened and what the "financial implications" would be.

Mike Greene, the authority's acting returning officer, said the mistake would not stop anyone voting.

The cards with errors were sent to people intending to vote in person in the Stockton North and Stockton West constituencies.

They were also distributed to more than 8,500 Stockton residents whose addresses fall into the new Middlesbrough and Thornaby East constituency.

The cards had originally been released to Royal Mail for delivery with the official names of polling stations omitted from the address, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Mr Greene said replacement cards would be sent out as soon as possible "to avoid any confusion".

"Residents are recommended to disregard any polling cards with the error and wait for the replacement to arrive," he said.

He added the council, a Labour minority-led authority, would be assessing the "financial implications" of the mistake.