Glasgow voters left confused after serious voting error at polling station

A GLASGOW polling station has left voters baffled after displaying incorrect instructions on its ballot papers today.

Members of the public heading to the polls at Notre Dame Primary School in Glasgow’s west end were encounter with posters asking them to use the wrong voting method.

The leaflets asked voters to rank each candidate in order of preference.

This voting method, also known as the single transferable vote, is a form of proportional representation that is generally only used in Scottish local elections.

In general elections, the first-past-the-post system is used: voters mark an “X” in the box corresponding to their preferred candidate.

Speaking to STV, an agitated voter said the posters had been displayed in some polling booths while others did not contain any instructions.

A Glasgow City Council spokesperson said: “The error was spotted very shortly after the polling station opened and after the first voters had cast their ballots.

“It has been replaced with the correct information.

“No one has been deprived of their right to vote since the first preference will be removed from the ballot paper.”

Scotland’s Electoral Management Board said no ballot papers would be wasted as a result.

EMB secretary Chris Highcock said: “On a numbered piece of paper the clear preference would be for candidate number 1.”