01/09/2003

Sinn Fein urge local electoral registration

Sinn Fein has urged local people to get themselves registered after the new electoral registration process was opened today.

The Electoral Office launched the new system last year ahead of the proposed Northern Ireland Assembly elections. However, this move came under heavy criticism amid allegations that thousands of people had been left off the register.

Sinn Féin national chairperson, Mitchel McLaughlin said: "“The new electoral registration process requires that everyone must re-register every year. This means that although people may have filled out registration forms not long ago that they must fill them in again.

“The result of last year's registration process was that 130,000 people were effectively disenfranchised.

“This is a challenge to the Electoral Office. This year they must take responsibility to ensuring that people are not disenfranchised. They will have failed unless they can demonstrate that they have adequately tried to get a large number of the 130,000 people disenfranchised last year back onto this year's register."

The new register will be published on 1 December but before that canvassers will call at every home in the province beginning on Saturday and running until early October.

A poster campaign will also be launched next week aimed at informing everyone, but particularly aimed at young people.

(MB)

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