Campaign to end electoral fraud launched

The Electoral Commission has launched a major public awareness campaign to encourage voters in Northern Ireland not to lose their right to vote.

Today the Electoral Commission will launch the ‘Secure your vote. Or lose it’ public awareness campaign to inform voters that they now have an individual responsibility to register to vote.

The campaign will run for four weeks and consists of TV and radio advertising - featuring the well-known local actress Ali Ford, outdoor billboard poster and press advertising. A leaflet explaining how to complete the new voter registration form will be hand delivered to Northern Ireland’s 1.2 million electors over the next few weeks. A helpline and website www.secureyourvote.com have also been set up to help voters understand the new system.

The ‘Secure your vote. Or lose it’ campaign will advise electors of five easy steps to secure their vote.

People registering to vote will be asked to complete and sign an individual registration form and will be asked to give their national insurance number and date of birth. To vote at the next election they will have to present photographic ID in the polling station. This can be a British or Irish passport, a Northern Ireland driving licence, or a Translink Senior Smartpass.

People without any of these can apply for a free electoral identity card by ticking a box on the voter registration form.

Seamus Magee, Head of The Electoral Commission’s office in Northern Ireland, said: “The Commission wants to ensure that the electorate know that they now have to register individually to vote at the next election. Anyone that doesn’t complete the new electoral registration form will lose his or her right to vote.”

The Electoral Commission is an independent body established by Parliament to ensure public confidence and participation in the democratic process within the UK. The body will attempt to address the issue through modernisation of the electoral process, promotion of public awareness of electoral matters and regulation of political parties.

Canvassers will visit every household from today to deliver and collect registration forms and to offer advice to electors.

Changes to the registration process in Northern Ireland were introduced by the Electoral Fraud Act 2002

The Electoral Commission launched its campaign at 10.30am today with the unveiling of the first ‘Secure you vote. Or lose it’ billboard poster on Bedford Street in Belfast.

(GMcG)