A review will be carried out of the two Douglas by-elections to establish if there was an issue of voters being missed off the electoral register.
Bill Henderson, whose elevation to the Legislative Council sparked the Douglas North by-election, said it ‘beggared belief’ that ‘hundreds’ have lost their entitlement to vote.
An update of the electoral register has resulted in the names of 12,252 people being taken off the voters’ list island-wide.
Policy and Reform Minister John Shimmin said the list was now more accurate as it only contained the names of those who had signed and returned the electoral registration form by the given date.
But critics say thousands have been disenfranchised. Some 800 names have been removed from the list in Douglas North and more than 1,200 in Douglas South.
Former Douglas North MHK and now MLC Bill Henderson said: ‘I’m very concerned the voters’ list was emptied just prior to a national election. They have not all died or moved house.
‘I’ve had some constituents contact me saying they are not eligible to vote. One lady presented herself to the Chief Secretary’s Office absolutely distraught that she could not vote.’
Mr Henderson suggested there were many cases where people had not signed and returned the form as they had lived in the same property for years and had always been on the list - and assumed they didn’t have to do anything to retain their vote.
Winning candidate in Douglas South, Bill Malarkey, said he could have lost at least 100 votes in Farmhill. He said: ‘I had people ringing me asking why can’t they come down to vote. They wanted to vote for me but they hadn’t got a polling card.’
He said he wanted the legislation changed so that voters in a by-election can have their names put on the electoral list a week before the poll.
Unsuccessful Douglas South candidate Amy Burns claimed 400 names had been take off the list in Pulrose - but didn’t think this ultimately would have changed the outcome of the by-election.
She said: ‘There were quite a few arguments. People came down to vote and wanted to know what was going on as they had been on the electoral register for years.’
Chief Minister Allan Bell said: ‘I’m not aware of any any major complaints arising for the by-elections.
‘After every election there is always a review. We will review the comments of the returning officer to ensure if there are any deficiencies they will be rectified, certainly before the next general election.
‘We have a rolling programme of voter registration which is updated every quarter. It is vitally important for people who believe they have been missed off the list to contact the government to have their names reinstated.
‘It is important to point out it is the individual voter’s responsibility to make sure they are on the list.
• Did you turn up to vote and find you were not on the electoral register? Contact newsdesk@newsiom.co.im