One in ten voters struck off Ulster electoral register

Eleven per cent of the Northern Ireland electorate has just been wiped off the electoral register because of extensive new measures to combat voting fraud.

Unpublished data shows the electorate may be dropping by 130,000 from the previous total of 1.2 million, a fall that could have a marked effect in several of the 18 Westminster constituencies.

The most striking change has come in the West Belfast seat held by the Sinn Fein president, Gerry Adams. Almost one in five of its electorate has gone from the new register, leaving a total of 81 per cent of the previous figure.

The changes have been made in an attempt to cut down on electoral fraud, though opinions differ on how far the new system has flushed out fraudsters or whether it has deterred those suspicious of authority. In a system that has been introduced only in Northern Ireland, potential voters were obliged to fill in individual forms rather than be registered by the heads of households.

They were also required to provide their national insurance number, date of birth and signature, and nationality. The registration process closed in the past few days, after several bursts of intense advertising. Those who believe they have been missed out can still come forward, under what is known as "rolling registration", and appeal to be placed on the register. This provision is thought unlikely to push figures up appreciably.

The pattern of registration varies significantly across Northern Ireland, with Belfast constituencies among the lowest. The North Belfast constituency will have only 84 per cent of its former electorate. But in some fiercely contested rural seats, registration figures are much higher, with Fermanagh-South Tyrone and Mid-Ulster, both held by Sinn Fein, at 92 and 93 per cent.

One republican source said: "Assurances that information from these new electoral forms will not be passed on to the security people holds no water in our community. But we are probably better than most at getting our vote out."