Over 1,000 people wrongly given ballots for neighbouring ward

Not come across anything quite like this before: a whole batch of voters wrongly asked to vote in a neighbouring ward:

Approximately 1,200 voters from the Brookside area were incorrectly allowed to cast their ballots for the neighbouring Stirchley ward of Stirchley and Brookside Parish Council.

Votes had to be removed by hand after 500 people Brookside residents voted in the Stirchley ward, before the valid papers could be counted.

Returning officer David Sidaway apologised for the error, saying: “A number of voters have been asked to vote in an election where they shouldn’t have been asked.”

Speaking at the count before the votes were verified, he said: “We have been identifying the votes from those people. We will go through the votes, face down, and use the serial numbers to remove them.

“During that process we will not be able to see who those people voted for.” [Shropshire Star]

Hat-tip: David Ellams.