Postal voting form "printing error"

Returning Officer Linda Fisher

Postal voting forms in Central Ward were sent out with a "printing error" - the wrong emblem had been placed against the Conservative and Liberal Democrat candidates.

New packs were issued to all postal voters in the Central Rochdale ward and residents have received a letter from the Returning Officer requesting that they destroy their previous pack which contained a white ballot paper and use the new one, which contains a salmon coloured ballot paper.

This affected approximately 350 ballot papers and a decision was taken to re-issue approximately 1,100 salmon ballot papers to ensure the statutory process is adhered to.

Returning Officer Linda Fisher apologised for the mistake and confirmed that replacement packs had been swiftly issued to avoid any confusion: “I can reassure everyone that this mistake has been rectified and I apologise for any inconvenience it has caused.

"A small number of voters were affected and the mistake was spotted on Friday. By 1pm on Sunday new packs were being delivered.

"I would like to remind residents in the Central Rochdale Ward to only use their new pack, and vote using the salmon coloured ballot paper. If you have already returned the original ballot paper it won’t be counted so you will need to complete and return your new one.”

A large number of salmon papers have already been returned.

Anyone with any questions is asked to contact the Electoral Services Team on 01706 924759 or email elections@rochdale.gov.uk