WINCHESTER civic chiefs have reassured residents after confusion over postal voting for the May 7 elections.

Some voters have said the instructions are unclear over which envelope to use for their city council and general election ballot papers.

That has raised concerns about votes not being counted if the wrong envelope is used.

One Itchen Valley resident, who asked not to be named, said ‘envelope A’ given in the postal voting pack is headed ‘Winchester City Council’, with no information about where to place the general election ballot paper.

She said she was worried that if ballot papers were posted alongside the postal voting statement, which contains personal information such as name and birthday, the vote would not be counted.

“It is a shambles. It is the only function of the electoral system that we have a positive anonymous voting experience.

“I don’t know how the city council is going to cope with this lack of anonymity.”

A spokesman for the city council said the electoral services team had received a small number of queries related to postal voting.

“This is quite usual and expected in a despatch running to tens of thousands,” he said.

“Where there are two ballot papers both should be placed in envelope A, which is then placed inside envelope B along with the voter’s postal voting statement. This is part of ensuring a secret ballot.

“The instructions on envelope A indicate that both ballot papers should be placed within it.”

He added that if a ballot paper is placed in envelope B by mistake, the vote will still be valid.

“The words ‘Winchester City Council’ are included on envelope A because the council is counting for two parliamentary constituencies – Winchester and Meon Valley – that cross local authority boundaries and also include parts of Eastleigh Borough, East Hampshire District and Havant Borough,” he said.