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Darlington UKIP Election Candidate Missed Off Ballot Papers In Polling Blunder

Darlington Borough Council faced calls for a re-run after UKIP's David Hodgson's name was left off some 89 papers in the north-east constituency


A parliamentary candidate was missed off some election ballot papers in Darlington, it emerged today.

Dave Hodgson - UKIP's parliamentary candidate for Darlington. 
Dave Hodgson - UKIP's parliamentary candidate for Darlington. 

Darlington Borough Council faced calls for a re-run after UKIP's David Hodgson's name was left off some 89 papers in the north-east constituency.

His name failed to appear on ballot papers at one voting station in the constituency, in an embarrassing election day blunder.

A council spokesperson issued an apology to UKIP's candidate but said the election and count would be continuing as normal.

A statement said: 'The name of one candidate, David Hodgson (UKIP), had been missed off ballot papers issued to one polling station in the borough.

'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.'

'We would like to issue a sincere apology to David Hodgson, the UKIP candidate, and the 89 voters at Whessoe Parish Hall who placed their votes before the error on the Ballot paper was spotted and rectified. This was due to our error.

The decision has been made to continue with the election and the count as normal as we wish to maintain the individual’s rights to have the way they voted remain confidential, this would not be the case if we went through the ballot boxes and pulled out the 89 votes.

'The candidate and any electors have the right to challenge the outcome.'

However the party have made it clear they are less than impressed with the situation. Hodgson said: 'Whilst the error was rectified after a number of people contacted UKIP to complain that my name was not on the ballot paper. There are serious questions to answer at the Council.

'How can this have happened? Who is going to take responsibility? ... What is particularly galling is that Darlington Council is not prepared to take responsibility nor offer an apology.'

A spokesperson for the Electoral Commission told Yahoo News UK: "It’s up to the Returning Officer, who is responsible for the conduct of the poll in that area, what action they take and how they continue with the rest of today."

Darlington is currently a Labour seat, with MP Jenny Chapman holding a 3,400 majority over the Conservatives.

UKIP have confirmed that they are 'considering what action to take' following the incident.