VOTERS have complained the system used to elect Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC) is “misleading”, a Gwent MP has said.

Following Thursday’s election Monmouth MP David Davies has said a number of constituents had contacted him to say they found the voting slip for the PCC confusing.

Did you find the voting process for the PCC elections confusing? Let us know at newsdesk@southwalesargus.co.uk

PCCs are elected using the supplementary vote system, through which voters are asked to mark their first and second preferences in the two columns on the ballot paper.

If no candidate gets at least 50 per cent of the vote all but the two leading candidates are eliminated and the second choices on the votes for those are counted and added to the totals of the first two.

But Mr Davies, the only Conservative MP in Gwent, has said there is “general misunderstanding” about the system which led to “widespread confusion” among voters on Thursday.

“The information on this was woefully unclear,” he said.

“I have had a number of complaints and I wasn’t even sure myself.

“From what I’ve been told, it seems that some of the staff at the polling stations may also have been uncertain about the voting process.”

He said one of the main sources of confusion was whether using the second choice vote is mandatory, while others asked if they were allowed to vote twice for the same candidate.

“There needs to be proper guidance issued next time and I will be writing to the Electoral Commission to make these concerns known,” he said.

Votes in this year’s PCC election will be counted tomorrow, Sunday.

Independent Ian Johnston was elected as Gwent’s first PCC in 2012, but did not run again this year. The three candidates nominated for the role in Gwent were Conservative Louise Brown, Labour’s Jeff Cuthbert and Darren Jones for Plaid Cymru.