A record number of people in the Highlands have registered to cast their vote by post in the upcoming General Election.
A total 32,151 electors across the three Highland constituencies of Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross; Ross, Skye and Lochaber; and Inverness, Nairn and Badenoch and Strathspey will be receiving their postal votes from tomorrow onwards.
This compares with 21,908 Highland electors choosing to vote by post at the last General Election in May 2010.
In Inverness, Nairn and Badenoch and Strathspey alone, 14,865 electors have applied for postal votes.
In Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross 8,263 people will vote by post, while 8,974 electors have applied in Ross, Skye and Lochaber.
Across the Highlands, 49 people have applied to cast their postal vote by proxy.
Steve Barron, returning officer for the Highlands, has urged electors to take their time and fill out their vote correctly to make sure it is counted.
When voting by post, voters need to complete a form with their ballot paper, which includes a signature and a date of birth.
These are then matched against the original form used to apply for the vote as a security check.
Mr Barron said: “Postal voting is growing in popularity as a convenient way for voters to have their say.
“But at every election, some postal votes are invalid, because the voter either forgets to sign the postal voting statement or writes down the date on which they filled it in, rather than their date of birth.
“I would urge postal voters to take the time to read the guidance enclosed in the postal packs and provide the right information so that we can count their votes.
“We need to receive postal votes before polls close at 10pm on Thursday, May 7.”
Postal voters who do not receive their postal ballot pack by Tuesday 28 April should telephone the helpline on 01349 886657.