POSTAL voters in the city are being urged to return their General Election vote as soon as possible.

Nearly 11,700 postal voting packs have been issued to those in Carlisle who successfully registered to vote by post for next week’s election.

So far, 59 per cent have been returned.

While votes are not counted until after the polls close at 10pm on December 12, election staff have to check the information accompanying each postal vote individually, making sure voters’ details are correct.

This can be done as soon as votes are returned to the elections office.

A spokesperson for Carlisle City Council said: “We always encourage voters to return their postal vote as quickly as they can, however, if they have any concerns, they can hand deliver them to the Civic Centre on the run up to the election or at any polling station within the Carlisle constituency up until 10pm on Thursday 12 December.”

In Carlisle there are 65,105 eligible voters in the Carlisle Parliamentary constituency.

There was 11,691 postal votes sent out - the last batch was sent on Friday, November 29 and so far more than 7,000 have been returned.

Replacement postal voting papers can be issued up to 5pm on polling day, but requests made after posting deadlines will have to be collected from the local authority.

If you have registered to vote by post, your postal vote must arrive at your Electoral Office in the UK by 10pm on Dec 12, the day of the election.

If you’re unable to post your voting pack in time, you can take it to your local polling station on polling day by 10pm, or to your local Electoral Registration Office before they close.