While most political parties in Northern Ireland welcomed the decision to review the electoral system, which will include an investigation of recent vote-fixing allegations, Sinn Fein has greeted it with caution. Sinn Fein's director of elections, Ms Dodie McGuinness, said: "I cautiously welcome this proposed electoral review if it means that it will remove the obstacles to an individual's right to claim their vote.
"Past experience has shown, however, that electoral reviews have resulted in further restrictions on people's ability to vote. What we should be concentrating on is making the electoral system more voter-friendly rather than introducing another form of identification," she said.
In announcing the internal review to investigate allegations of electoral abuse in the North, the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, said she took those allegations "very seriously".
Most allegations of electoral abuse have been directed at Sinn Fein, which has strenuously denied them. Senior officials have suggested the allegations are deliberate attempts by their opponents to diminish Sinn Fein's electoral successes. In constituencies such as West Belfast, the SDLP had been very critical of electoral abuse.
Former SDLP MP for West Belfast, Dr Joe Hendron, who has called for such an investigation said: "I am glad to see that something is now being done about this. We held meetings with Mo Mowlam recently and had three meetings with her predecessor Sir Patrick Mayhew and also met with the two secretaries of state before that.
"It is shocking that nothing was done before now because everybody knows that electoral abuse has been widespread for years," said Dr Hendron. "Now that they have the chance it is up to people who know their cards were stolen to come forward. Those people who abuse the system have become very professional at forgeries," he added.
Dr Hendron also criticised the chief electoral officer for Northern Ireland, Mr Pat Bradley, for refusing to recognise there was a major problem.
Alliance Party Chief Whip, Alderman Sean Neeson, said: "It is important that the investigation is as wide-ranging as possible and will consider not only electoral irregularities but also issues such as access and the location of polling stations."