Andersonstown News
December 12, 2002
SF Denies Vote Fraud
Sinn Féin has dismissed accusations of massive vote fraud in the past,
claiming that a lack of awareness among potential voters accounts for a
whopping 19% fall in voter registration in West Belfast.
According to figures released last week, about 130,000 names may be wiped from
the electoral register following the introduction of new measures designed to
combat vote fraud. West Belfast showed the greatest drop in the number of
votes registered.
A party delegation, including Danny Power, the party's northern Director of
Elections, met with representatives from the electoral commission yesterday
morning to discuss Sinn Féin's concerns about the new system for registering.
Speaking after the meeting, Sinn Féin's Mid-Ulster MLA Francie Molloy
challenged the Electoral Commission to act immediately to make it easier for
voters to put their names down on the "rolling" register. He also blamed an
inadequate publicity campaign for the lack of awareness in the West of the
city.
"We are particularly concerned that as well as the large number of people not
returning forms, potentially large numbers of voters may not have received
forms at all and therefore never got the opportunity to register," he said.
"We believe that the Electoral Commission needs to develop a focused and
determined campaign to facilitate the inclusion of young people on to the new
register," he added.
Sinn Féin councillor Michael Browne pointed to a number of factors in the
decrease of voters in West Belfast and denied any allegations of vote fraud in
the past.
"Fewer people in West Belfast are registering their votes for many reasons.
There has been a slowing down of population growth overall - there are simply
less people.
"Also, there have been many cases of electoral bungling - forms going missing,
forms not being sent out in the first place, that sort of thing."
The new Electoral Fraud Act requires voters to provide personal identification
including a national insurance number and a signature. And for the first time
potential voters were required to fill in individual forms rather than be
registered by the heads of households.