Lib Dem Leader "too young" to vote

Coun Shaffaq Mohammed, who is 45, received a letter from his own authority saying he wouldn’t be able to vote until he was 18.

The letter, from Election Services Manager John Tomlinson, says: “I am writing to apologise that you were sent a poll card for the elections on May 3 but as you will not be 18 years old by then, you will not be able to vote.”

The letter says there was an error with a process on the electoral register and adds: “We have now corrected the error and you will be able to vote when you become 18.”

Coun Mohammed says he can see the funny side but is concerned more letters have been sent and may confuse or deter voters.

“Obviously this is a clerical error and it did bring a smile to my face but if you look back at the 2016 elections, there was a dead heat in one ward and another candidate won by just eight votes. Elections in Sheffield are always close and these letters could undermine democracy.”