Gerrymandering-A New
Meaning?
"The glorified county
council" statelet
that calls itself Northern
Ireland has a long,
long history of voter
manipulation, with various
expedients used to deny
its nationalist population
fair representation
in parliament, both
at Stormont Castle in
Belfast and Westminster
Palace in London.
Initially the device
most widely used was
the gerrymandering of
constituencies. Boundaries
were drawn and redrawn
in such a way as to
ensure the governing
Unionists retained power
election after election.
Applicants for jobs
were chosen on the basis
of religious discrimination
against Nationalists.
Public housing was allocated
on the same basis. A
Unionist employer enjoyed
the privilege of voting
twice in general elections,
one vote for himself,
and a second vote for
his business firm.
All that is past history.
Not quite.
In preparation for next
May's local elections
to Stormont, seat of
the presently suspended
Northern Ireland Assembly,
a new electoral registry
has been compiled, cutting
more than 100,000 from
the existing list in
highly significant electoral
ridings.
A system unique to the
Six Counties was introduced
in order to compile
the new registry.
Under this system, prospective
voters are obliged to
provide their national
insurance number (SIN),
date of birth, sign
a special form, and
state their nationality.
Heads of household may
no longer register family
members.
It all sounds so familiar.
The most dramatic change
is made in West Belfast,
the riding held by Gerry
Adams, well known nationalist
and President of Sinn
Fein. Almost 20% of
its electorate has been
stricken from the registry.
It is claimed that this
will prevent voting
fraud.
It is also claimed that
this gives a new meaning
to gerrymandering.
A cartoon
dating back to the bad
old days of Unionist
domination under Lord
Craigavon has been a
permanent feature of
this web site.
The 2001 Six County census
figures tell their own
story, a drop in the
Protestant population
to 53.1pc and a rise
in the Catholic population
to 43.8pc.
Among Protestants, 20.7pc
declared themselves
Presbyterian, 15.3pc
Church of Ireland (Anglican)
and 3.5pc Methodist.
A further 6.1pc said
they belonged to other
Protestant or Christian-related
denominations and 0.3pc
had other non-Christian
religious beliefs.
The remaining 13.9pc
did not answer the question
about their religious
beliefs.
--30--
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