City's homeless are eligible to vote too

The Electoral Commission and the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland are working together to encourage people living in temporary accommodation to get involved.

The Commission, the independent elections watchdog, has produced a poster encouraging those in temporary accommodation to secure their general election vote and the Electoral Office has designed a new registration form.

Samus Magee, Head of the Electoral Commission's office in Northern Ireland, said: “People eligible to vote who are living in temporary accommodation may not realise that they can still register and vote using their temporary address.

“By displaying this poster and providing a point of contact, accommodation managers will be doing their bit to encourage those who are often disconnected from society to have their say.”

Douglas Bain, Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland, said: “Those who are homeless have just as much right as everyone else to vote at the general election which is now less than four months away.

“But, like everyone else they will only be able to vote if they are registered as electors. Our new form will make it much easier for them to do so”.

The poster and information leaflets are available from www.dopolitics.org.uk/order-resources-form or calling 0845 8500 501 reference, order code EC33.