ONLY a fifth of voters in Greater Manchester have returned their ballot papers in the congestion charge referendum in the first week of voting.

Election officials say that nearly 22 per cent of the electorate have posted their Yes or No vote on the proposed shake-up of the region's transport system.

Voting forms were sent out last week to nearly 2m voters in the ten Greater Manchester councils and the final date for returns is a week on Thursday.

Figures show a large variation in voting figures across the region. In Manchester only 14 per cent of the electorate have voted, compared with over 28 per cent in Tameside.

Campaigners on both sides have urged voters to ensure they have their say before voting closes.

Under the scheme more than £2.75bn would be spent on improving public transport, with some £1.2bn of the total borrowed in a loan which would be repaid over 30 years out of the profits generated by a congestion charge scheme.

The peak time, weekday-only congestion charge scheme would cost £318m to set up and motorists would pay a maximum of £5 a day for travelling in and out of the city centre.

The highest response so far was in Tameside and Oldham where 28 per cent of the electorate have voted. This was followed by Bury (27 per cent), Stockport (27 per cent), Salford (24 per cent), Rochdale (23 per cent), Trafford (20 per cent), and Wigan (18 per cent). Election officials, who plan to release further turnout updates later this week and the next, are prepared for a last-minute rush in the final few days of voting.

Ballot papers must arrive at the counting centre in London by 10pm on Thursday next week to be registered.

For voters who have not put their papers in the post in time, there will be 15 ballot drop-off stations set up across the region to allow votes to be cast and counted on the final day.

Select the links below for more on the c-charge proposals

Nigel Sarbutts, from the No campaign, said: "It is too early to say how this will affect the decision. If the results continue to climb then there will be the same turnout as there were in the council elections in May. We are concerned about some reports we have had about voters who have still not received their ballot papers."

Dan Hodges, director of the Yes campaign, said that the figures suggested many voters were still undecided.

He said: "The canvassing returns we published last week indicated a large number of undecided votes and the provisional turnout figure seem to be supporting this.

"There is still well over a week of campaigning to go and all the indications are that this vote is simply too close to call."

However some residents have complained they have not yet received their ballots or have been sent duplicates. Among them were students who received papers at their home as well as campus addresses and those who had recently moved house.

One father in Trafford also contacted the M.E.N., complaining that his two children aged 14 and 16 had received ballot papers.

But officials in charge of the massive postal poll claim there has been no major error and said that those affected were likely to blame for failing to return or incorrectly filling out their registration details.

Sir Neil McIntosh, returning officer for the vote, said he had been made aware of only one duplicate ballot so far.

He said: "The production of electoral registers is the responsibility of each of the Greater Manchester councils and it is these registers which are being used for the referendum.

"Where a council notifies me that they have discovered a person registered at more than one address, and can confirm that it is the same person and which address the elector resides at, I will in accordance with the fraud protocol cancel the duplicate ballot paper.

"I have already done so in the one case which has been brought to my attention so far."

He added that any possible fraud would be "vigorously investigated" by police.

Click here to read coverage of the M.E.N debate

Vote No: MEN's Robert Ridley Vote Yes: MEN's Maria McGeoghan

Click here to read the c-charge story so far.

Click here to read TIF documents released under the Freedom of Information Act.
Click here to read David Ottewell's politics blog