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Absent Voting: Northern Ireland

Question for Northern Ireland Office

UIN HL3, tabled on 21 June 2017

Her Majesty's Government how many proxy vote applications there were in each Northern Ireland constituency for the general elections in (1) 2010, (2) 2015, and (3) 2017; and whether they intend to investigate possible electoral fraud in relation to proxy voting in Northern Ireland.

Answered on

3 July 2017

The administration of proxy voting is an operational matter for the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland. All evidence received by the Chief Electoral Officer regarding possible electoral fraud is passed to the PSNI for investigation.

The following table has been provided by the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland and contains the number of proxy vote applications in each constituency in Northern Ireland for the Parliamentary general elections in 2010, 2015 and 2017:

Constituency

2010

2015

2017

Belfast East

36

124

279

Belfast North

91

177

739

Belfast South

47

114

318

Belfast West

115

168

1026

East Antrim

51

137

353

East Londonderry

62

143

360

Fermanagh & South Tyrone

470

1454

1707

Foyle

159

339

1282

Lagan Valley

47

87

230

Mid Ulster

213

488

1127

Newry & Armagh

101

870

1304

North Antrim

71

224

507

North Down

63

85

193

South Antrim

58

106

285

South Down

130

203

564

Strangford

41

73

197

Upper Bann

65

135

322

West Tyrone

289

505

914

Total

2109

5432

11707