More than 100,000 households in Aberdeen were sent a leaflet with the wrong date for the general election in an “embarrassing” gaffe by voting officials.
Residents in the city were given the flyer – delivered with council tax bills – with an advert reminding people to use their vote on May 8 instead of May 7.
The blunder was made by the Grampian Electoral Registration Office, which maintains the electoral register for three north-east council areas – Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray.
Ian Yuill, the Liberal Democrat group leader on the city council, said the mistake, contained within a year planner sheet, was pointed out to him by local resident
He said: “It is, to say the least, unfortunate that this has happened.
“We have known the date for a long time, since 2011 because of the agreement on a fixed term parliament, but they have still managed to get it wrong.
“It is clearly an embarrassing mistake – these are the people who are in charge of the electoral register.
“The key thing, obviously, is that there should be no dubiety about the date of the election and everybody should make sure they vote.”
Ian Milton, the Grampian assessor and electoral registration officer, has apologised for the error, which he said was made at the proofing stage of the advertisement to promote “absent” voting by post or by proxy.
However, he stressed that the blunder would not lead to anyone missing out on their chance to vote.
Mr Milton said all voters on the electoral roll would shortly be issued with official polling cards for the election – and that these would have the correct date.
In a letter to Mr Yuill, Mr Milton said: “I was made aware of the error, that was due to a proofing error by one of my staff, last week.
“The purpose of the publicity that contains the error was to promote absent voting which, as you will know, needs to be arranged well in advance of the actual election.
“The publicity directs electors to contact my office or use my website, both of which would ensure that the elector is given the correct information and advice.”
Mr Milton said polling cards would be delivered to 426,000 electors in Grampian during the week beginning April 6.
Those who have already chosen to vote by post will receive their ballot packs from the returning officers on or before April 21, with details of arrangements for submitting their votes.