Are 10,000 Voters Missing?

11.12.42am UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 28th Feb 2005

Vincent Cable, MP for Twickenham has asked Richmond Council's Electoral Registration Officer to investigate the fact that 5,000 households - perhaps 10,000 people - seem to have disappeared from the electoral register in the Twickenham area (just over half the borough).

Vincent Cable said: "my volunteers discovered by accident that when we ordered leaflets on the basis of the electoral register we where about 5,000 short. When we checked it was clear that large numbers of longstanding residents have dropped off the register and new arrivals haven't been registered. This confirms what we discovered in the Hampton by-election: that lots of people are losing their vote, not because of apathy but because the registration process isn't working.

"I have written to the Council to check that they are doing all they can to ensure maximum voter registration. It is bad enough when people don't bother to vote; but much worse when they want to vote but are disenfranchised."