Voters were put in wrong ward due to council error

More than a hundred Chichester voters were put in the wrong ward for next week’s elections due to a council error.

A total of 147 properties were originally listed as being in Chichester South but they have now been told they are in Chichester Central.

The roads affected were Peter Weston Place, Laburnum Grove, Eastgate Mews and parts of Cawley Road, Velyn Avenue, Market Avenue and The Hornet.

Chichester District Council said it was ‘very sorry for the error’ and has sent out new poll cards to affected voters and an updated register to all the local political parties.

Sarah Sharp, one of the Green candidates for Chichester South, described being ‘upset’ at the mistake as she and her volunteers had mistakenly canvassed properties that were not in the ward she is standing in.

A spokesman for Chichester Labour said there had been a lot of ‘avoidable confusion’ over the new boundaries, but was glad CDC had taken swift action, although ‘why this happened in the first place is a question that we need answers to’.

Jane Scotland, agent for the Chichester Liberal Democrats, commended CDC for managing the complex updates to the electoral roll and said the error would not be a significant problem and had been picked up and fixed well before polling day.

Both Tory candidates were approached for comment.