Dozens of ballot papers in Darlington miss off local Ukip candidate but election goes ahead anyway

Council says it has taken advice from the Electoral Commission

Northgate in Darlington (Creative Commons)

Elections will go ahead as normal in Darlington today despite some dozens of ballot papers missing off the local Ukip candidate.

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Roughly 89 ballot papers were issued that did not feature the name of David Hodgson, who is standing to become the area’s MP.

“A spokesperson for Darlington Borough Council said that voting in the general and local elections was continuing as normal in Darlington but that the name of one candidate, David Hodgson (UKIP) had been missed off ballot papers issued to one polling station in the borough,” the statement read.

“Approximately 89 ballot papers (0.1% of the total number of ballot papers printed) had been issued, but as soon as the issue was identified, corrected ballot papers were issued to the polling station concerned.”

Ada Burns, Darlington Council chief executive, told the Northern Eco local newspaper that the council had taken advice from the Electoral Commission and that they were “confident that the election can go ahead as normal”.

In a statement, Ukip North East called for an investigation into the incident.

"It is a simple matter of democracy. The question of how such an error could have occurred is substantial, and should be investigated further in the coming days," MEP Jonathan Arnott said.

Mr Hodgson, the candidate concerned, told the Northern Echo newspaper the incident was “shocking”.