THOUSANDS of voters have been removed from the electoral register across Derry, it has been revealed.
According to the electoral office, 4,912 people in the Foyle constituency can’t vote in the forthcoming Assembly elections on Thursday, March 2.
A further 2,651 have been blocked from voting in East Derry.
Across the North of Ireland, a total of 60,433 people are not currently able to vote in the March election.
The drop is attributed to a canvassing of households which took place in 2016 to update voter details.
Anyone who did not return their form, as required by law, was removed from the register.
Voters still have until 14 February to re-register.
“A total of 60,433 names were removed from the electoral register on 1 December 2016,” a spokesperson told the BBC.
“These were the names of people who did not return an electoral registration form during the last canvass of electors in 2013.
“The Electoral Office for Northern Ireland has written several times to all of those affected by this – most recently last autumn. Anyone who did not return a form at this time was, as required by law, removed from the register.
“Anyone wishing to vote at the Northern Ireland Assembly election on 2 March must complete and return an electoral registration form by Tuesday 14 February.”
The electoral office added that it will be launching a public awareness campaign in the coming days.
