Inquiry into Euro vote 'forgery'

There has been a rise in the numbers of people entitled to vote

Fifteen cases of suspected forgery during the recent European election in Northern Ireland have been passed to the police.

They came to light during a scrutiny of absent vote applications and included three cases where doctors' signatures appear to have been forged.

Chief Electoral Officer Douglas Bain said he would take action if there were attempts to cheat the system.

He also said votes would be counted overnight at the next general election.

It would mean the results would be available in the early hours of the morning after polling day.

Mr Bain said the number of permanent absent voters had risen by more than 7% while there was a reduction of 76% in one-off absent votes.

Absent voting is the term used to cover both postal and proxy voting.

Changes

He said new provisions governing late registration allowed almost 12,000 changes to the electoral register prior to this year's European poll.

The changes contributed to a rise of more than 69,000 in the electorate compared to the 2004 election, he said.

"My office is committed to ensuring that everyone legally entitled to be included on the electoral register and to vote is given every opportunity to do so, but I will not hesitate to take appropriate action where any attempts are made to cheat the system," he said.

Meanwhile, a number of proposed changes to electoral law, which, it is hoped, could be in place before the next general election, were also outlined.

These included provisions to make it easier for those aged over 65 and in receipt of attendance allowance to apply for an absent vote and the use of EU national identity cards and driving licences at polling stations to prove identity.