Over half of those who failed to cast their vote in last year's Assembly election in Northern Ireland chose not to do so, a new report revealed today.
The Electoral Commission's report on last November's Assembly election showed 122,000 fewer people voted last November than voted in the 1998 Assembly election - a fall of around 15 per cent.
In an attitude survey carried out for the Commission, around 52 per cent said they had deliberately chosen not to cast their ballot, while the remainder were prevented from doing so.
Around 28 per cent of those sampled for the survey said they did not vote because they were not interested in politics in Northern Ireland.
Around 7 per cent said there was no point because all the parties in the province were the same, 6 per cent felt no politician or party represented their view, while 4 per cent said they did not trust politicians.
Another 3 per cent said there was no point in voting because the Assembly, which was suspended in October 2002, would not be operating after the election anyway.
Electoral commissioner Mr Karamjit Singh said the overall drop in turnout was a "cause for concern".
The Commission's report also revealed that there was much confusion on polling day among voters about whether they were on electoral register. Voters in Northern Ireland are required to register every year to ensure that they can vote in the next election.