Borough council re-prints 130,000 ballot papers after delivery van stolen

Eastbourne Borough Council is to re-print 130,000 ballot papers for the Parliamentary and borough elections after a delivery van was stolen.

The theft, which took place in London, is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police.

In a statement the local authority said there would be a minor delay in delivery before the fresh ballot papers arrived in Eastbourne in time for election day.  

It added that it would not incur any additional costs as a result of the re-print.  

“The replacement ballot papers will be printed on different coloured paper to the original batch to prevent fraud,” the council said.

“This will mean that if anyone places one of the stolen ballot papers in a ballot box on election day it will be easily detected and removed.”

Eastbourne admitted that “one unavoidable anomaly” was that the previously issued postal vote ballot papers were on the original colours and could be posted or handed in at a polling station right up to close of poll on 7 May.

“However, these ballots have to be returned with the associated paperwork and go through a rigorous scanning process separate to the other ballots,” it stressed. “They are not placed in ballot boxes at the polling stations.”

The council said it had taken advice from the Electoral Commission and was confident that the steps it had implemented would “ensure the accurate and successful completion of the elections on May 7”.