Yesterday it was revealed that Plymouth council had been notified of an administrative error which had placed approximately 850 students and under-17s on the electoral register without their knowledge. A further 352 students had received their polling cards from the Labour council without requesting them.

In the wake of that revelation, parents across the country have mentioned that their children had been sent polling cards without registering to vote.

According to the paper, some of the constituencies in question are Lancaster, Nottingham and Hendon in north London, all of which are close marginal seats.

Following the allegations of the registration of voters without their knowledge – which is illegal – Tory party chairman, James Cleverly has called on the Electoral Commission to launch a probe into the matter.

Mr Cleverly told The Sun: “This raises extremely serious questions about the integrity of our system and apparent lack of checks and balances to ensure those registering to vote are doing so of their own accord.

“I am calling on the authorities to launch a full investigation into this immediately.

“Democracy begins and ends with trust in our electoral system.

“It is vital that we get to the bottom of these very concerning allegations before that trust is eroded any further.”

Tory MP, David Morris, who looked into voter registration that there are “irregularities going on all over university towns”.

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Moreover, one parent from Luton revealed: “My daughter is at uni in London, never registered at her uni address but surprise surprise got a polling card delivered as well as one at our home address.

“It’s an absolute disgrace. Her uni is in Hendon, which has a slim Conservative majority of only a 1,000, strange that.”

Areas with universities are often associated with voting for left-wing parties and in the 2017 election, 60 percent of those aged between 18-24 voted for Jeremy Corbyn’s party and therefore it is feared among Tories that younger voters may vote overwhelmingly for Labour once again.

Following the notification of an error, Plymouth Council carried out an investigation into the three constituencies affected.

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Of the three, Plymouth Moor View, and Plymouth Sutton and Devonport are expected to see a tight election fight next month.

An electoral commission spokesman said: “It’s vital that electors and those taking part in elections have confidence that the register is accurate and complete, and we will be working closely with the Council to fully understand and address the issues that have been identified.

“We’re not aware of people being added to the electoral register without their consent anywhere else in the country.

“We’ve been in contact with the electoral services teams in Barnet and Lancaster who have told us that no voters have been added to the register without their consent.”

In light of the revelation in Plymouth, the local council has stated that it has or is in the process of correcting the error.

The council added: “An issue came to light last week when we were notified that some 17-year-olds in the Plymouth Sutton and Devonport constituency had received poll cards despite not yet being eligible to vote.

“We identified the cause of the problem and have written to 247 under-18s in the Plymouth Sutton and Devonport constituency who may have erroneously been sent polling cards.

“There is no risk of them being able to vote until they are eligible as they are marked on the current electoral register as not being of age, so would not be given a ballot paper.

“As a result of this, we carried out a rigorous review of the data used to compile the register. This has highlighted an issue related to some of the data we have used as part of our ongoing effort to ensure young people can vote in line with national best practice.

“The way this data is electronically marked on our electoral system has led to 850 students and young people incorrectly being added to the register.

“We believe we have now identified and resolved the issues with the register.

“Anyone who shouldn’t have been on the register has been removed or will be in the next few days through due process. No one entitled to vote has been prevented from doing so.”

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