COUNCIL officers were busy processing ballot papers for the Euro election today, as voting numbers reached nearly 40 per cent.

Elizabeth Ellis, the council's electoral and civic services manager, said the numbers of voters who had filled in their ballot papers this year so far stood at 38.23 per cent.

Voters were still able to hand in their voting forms at the Guildhall in York from 7am up to the 10pm deadline today.

Ms Ellis said she hoped the total turnout figures would be more than 40 per cent - double the 1999 Euro election figures of about 20 per cent for the region.

She said: "From a returning officer's point of view, it's going very well.

"We are getting a lot of papers back. A lot of people are coming in and asking for assistance.

"It's just a learning process for everybody."

The returned ballot papers will be counted on Sunday night.

Updated: 10:27 Thursday, June 10, 2004