SOME voters face election-day chaos after being sent postal votes and voting cards by poll organisers.

People in Wear Valley, County Durham, have been sent postal votes envelopes and election cards, leaving them confused about which to use.

Iain Phillips, acting returning officer in the Bishop Auckland parliamentary constituency and some Durham County Council wards, said nobody would be able to vote twice and there were safeguards to prevent double voting.

He said: "If they have a postal vote they must use it. They can do that at the polling station by putting their cards in the envelope and posting it there."

The names of anyone who has not requested a postal vote over the past five years should have been automatically deleted from the council's computer.

Mr Phillips said: "There may be the occasional blip, but in general anyone sent a postal vote must have asked for one at some time over the past five years."

Retired businessman John Merry challenged the council to find any record of his request for a postal vote.

He and his wife, Rosemary Yates, received poll cards and postal voting slips at their home in High Escomb, near Bishop Auckland.

He said: "This is either a total administrative blunder or a massive waste of public funds. It is absolutely crazy."

Electors in the Sedgefield Borough also reported that they had received postal vote slips as well as polling cards.