The Electoral Registration Office says it has received only a small number complaints from constituents unable to vote in the Douglas North and South by-elections.
A review was carried out following concerns that an update of the electoral register had left many unable to vote.
The update 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.
Some 800 names have been removed from the list in Douglas North and more than 1,200 in Douglas South.
Bill Henderson, whose elevation to the Legislative Council sparked the Douglas North by-election, said it ‘beggared belief’ that the voters’ list had been emptied of hundreds of names – and refused to believe they had all died or moved house.
But estimates from the returning officers suggest the problems were nothing like as large, with only 18 unregistered voters having turned up at the polling stations to cast they vote.
In a statement, the Electoral Registration Office said: ‘Exact figures are not available but estimates from the returning officers indicate that the number of unregistered persons seeking to vote at polling stations was approximately 18 in total across the two constituencies, compared to around 3,000 who did vote.
‘We do not have information on the reasons why these individuals were not registered, nor how this situation compares with previous elections. What we can say is the Electoral Registration Office has received a single figure number of complaints from people who were unable to vote because they had not returned a registration form or had done so after the deadline.’
In Tynwald last month, Douglas North MHK John Houghton failed to win support for his motion calling for an inquiry into why active voters had been removed from the electoral register.
Chief Minister Allan Bell told the Manx Independent he’d received no direct complaints. But he accepted there may need to be a change in legislation to allow voters to register up to a week before a by-election – as they can do ahead of a general election.