Written question asked by Lady Hermon (Ulster Unionist Party) on Tuesday, 17 May 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 19 May 2005. It was answered by Lord Hanson of Flint (Labour) on Wednesday, 29 June 2005 on behalf of the Northern Ireland Office.

Voting (General Election)

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the number of disabled voters in each parliamentary constituency in Northern Ireland who were unable to vote at the general election as a result of access restrictions at polling stations.

Answer: This is an operational matter and is the responsibility of the Chief Electoral Officer who is writing to the hon. Member. The text of the letter reads:"““The Electoral Office has no indication that significant numbers of disabled electors were unable to vote on 5 May because of access restrictions at polling stations. While we do seek to ensure that every polling place is readily accessible by all electors and have, for some time, been working with the Equality Commission and owners of property to encourage compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act, adjustments take time. In the interim, we do keep the polling station scheme under constant review and encourage anyone with local knowledge who may be aware of more suitable premises to put forward their ideas. In addition, as you know a public consultation exercise on the scheme was carried out earlier this year and all comments received were taken into account before finalising arrangements for this year's elections””."A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

Secondary information