Over 80,000 people wiped off Northern Ireland's annual electoral register were today urged to demand their votes back in time for the next Assembly election.
Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams, whose West Belfast constituency saw the biggest drop of all, described the dramatic fall in eligible voters on last Friday's list as a damning indictment of the registration process.
He also called on the British government to sanction the use of the previous voter register instead for next March's planned Assembly Election.
"Tens of thousands of voters have been ripped off the register by the actions of the registration office," the West Belfast MP complained.
"I intend to urgently speak to the British government and demand that the previous register should be rolled over to allow for its use in any Assembly election in March.
There was a seven per cent drop in eligible voters across Northern Ireland, as all 18 constituencies experienced falls in the number of eligible voters.
The biggest decreases were in urban areas, with the four Belfast constituencies and Foyle, which mostly comprises of Derry, suffering.
Mr Adams' West Belfast constituency lost 8,345 registered voters - a 15.1 per cent fall.
Democratic Unionist MP Nigel Dodd and nationalist SDLP MP Dr Alasdair McDonnell's seats in North Belfast and South Belfast seat both experienced a 10.2 per cent decrease.
In DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson's East Belfast constituency, the number of eligible voters fell by 4,506 - an 8.1 per cent drop.
SDLP leader Mark Durkan's Foyle constituency lost 6,416 voters - a 9.3 per cent slump.
Last year's electoral list was augmented by 95,000 people who failed to register but whose names were carried over from the previous register.
This year's canvass, which began in August, was the last time voters in Northern Ireland were asked to fill in electoral registration forms annually. In future, voters will only have to fill in registration forms every 10 years.
PA