IT is not correct to say that the Electoral Commission said this summer's all-postal pilots should not include Yorkshire and the Humber, as you suggested (March 8).

The Electoral Commission recommended that two regions, the North East and East Midlands, were "highly suitable" and "suitable" to run pilots, and that a further four had the potential to run pilots. The second region on this list was Yorkshire and Humber.

There have already been successful all-postal pilots in local elections in the region, and by extending to the whole region, we believe that we can obtain valuable information which can be used to determine the system used for future elections.

Christopher Leslie MP,

Undersecretary of State,

Department for Constitutional Affairs,

Selborne House,

Victoria Street, London.

Updated: 10:14 Tuesday, March 16, 2004