NEARLY two million electors in the North-East will not have to go to a polling station to vote next year, but hopes of ballots by text message or e-mail have been dashed.

The region is only one of two in the country where all-postal ballots will be held for the European Parliament and local elections in June.

A report published by the Electoral Commission yesterday recommended the North-East and the East Midlands were the best equipped areas for the trial.

But the report, Electoral Pilots and the June 2004 Elections, ruled that no region in the UK is ready for electronic voting, which will be introduced to the European Parliamentary elections next year.

Electoral Commission chief executive Roger Creedon said: "We were impressed with the breadth of support in the North-East for an all-postal pilot in 2004.

"This is underpinned by the region's significant previous experience of trialing innovative methods of voting. There have been 19 pilot schemes in the region since 2000.

"The voters in the North-East have welcomed these innovations and, next June, will have the opportunity to be part of a much bigger pilot."

All-postal votes will also be held next autumn in referendums on regional assemblies in the North-East and North Yorkshire.

The move comes after a trial in May's council elections, in which postal voting helped increase turnout from about 35 per cent to 50 per cent.

The method was used by a number of North-East councils, including Darlington, Stockton, Redcar and Cleveland, Derwentside, Gateshead and Sunderland.

In Stockton, the turnout was 47 per cent, compared to 31 per cent previously. In Redcar and Cleveland, it was nearly 50 per cent, up 13 per cent.

The Electoral Commission was asked to find three regions that were suitable for all-postal voting next year, but was only able to find two.

It was required to consider nine criteria provided by the Government, including the size, population and number of local authorities in each region, previous experiences of returning officers and the potential for fraud.

Councils in the region are gearing up for June's elections, and some will use all-postal voting for the first time.

A spokesman for Hartlepool Borough Council, which opted out of the trial this year because it was not ready, said: "We would welcome any new ways to make voting easier for people in an attempt to increase turnout."