West Belfast Sinn Féin Sinn Féin -- Building an Ireland of Equals

McCann questions Electoral Office approach to voter registration

Published: 27 January, 2009

West Belfast Sinn Fein MLA Jennifer McCann has expressed her serious concern that Electoral Office demands around voter registration are making it more difficult for people to get on the electoral register.

Ms McCann said:

''Of 265 completed registration forms submitted by Sinn Fein to the Electoral Office between the end of November 2008 and the beginning of January 2009 on behalf of people in West Belfast, 154 or around 60% have been refused their right to go on the electoral register.

''This is a shocking statistic.

''Despite filling in the electoral registration form, providing their name, address, date of birth, national insurance number and signature, these people have still been denied their place on the register.

''There is a clear denial of the right to vote.

''It is over 40 years since civil rights marchers here were beaten off the streets for demanding one person, one vote.

''4 years ago in the United States, we saw how obstacles were put in place of African Americans who wanted to get on the register and that, as a result, George Bush was re-elected President.

''Here, the Electoral Office is demanding that people go through additional processes before they can get on the register.

''Sinn Fein has been prepared to work with the Electoral Office to facilitate registration, photo IDs and any other issue.

''These issues raise serious questions about the approach of the Electoral Office to making sure that people are able to use their right to vote.

''There are over 200,000 people in the six counties who are eligible to vote but are not on the electoral register.

''Instead of focusing their resources on getting these people onto the register, the Electoral Office seems to be concentrating on keeping people from registering and removing people from the register.

''Any Electoral Office argument about the need to demand additional evidence to maintain the accuracy of the register is bogus.

''An independent survey carried out by the Electoral Commission showed that the electoral registers published here on January 1 2007, before any demands for additional evidence, were 94.3% accurate - this is widely accepted as the most accurate anywhere in Ireland or Britain.

''This statistic provides an overwhelming argument that Electoral Office demands for additional evidence from people is not needed.

''Yet still the Electoral Office appears to put a greater emphasis on initiatives that may result in people who are entitled to vote being forced off the register instead of getting the almost 200,000 people who are not able to vote onto the register.''