There are 47,278 people eligible to vote in the Isle of Man - a drop of 12,252 on the previous quarterly
register.

Policy and Reform Minister John Shimmin revealed the figures in the House of Keys today, when John Houghton asked him to make a statement about what he described as 'the wholesale deletion of names' from the new list.

Mr Shimmin said the figure was not surprising as one of the aims of updating the register was to remove entries that were no longer valid.

He said: 'As Honourable Members are aware, an Island-wide electoral canvass was undertaken at the start of this year. Prior to this, the electoral register was grossly inaccurate and these inaccuracies, built up over the best part of a decade, were being compounded. An inaccurate register serves little purposes; it is important for the register to accurately reflect those persons living in the properties at which they are registered.'

He stressed that the onus is on the individual to ensure they are registered to vote, adding: 'A concerted effort has been made to reach every household on the Island, either through personal letter in the vast majority of cases or by inviting anybody who did not receive such a letter to contact the Electoral Registration Unit.'


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