§ Rev. Ian Paisleyasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many pink ballot papers were printed for the border poll election; how many of these were issued to the various presiding officers; and how many of these were returned unused;
(2) how many voters in the border poll election were issued with pink ballot papers because their votes had been already used.
§ Mr. David HowellApproximately 45,000 tendered ballot papers were printed for the border poll and issued to presiding officers. Those which were not used were sealed in packages at the close of the poll and deposited with the Clerk of the Crown, as is the normal procedure at parliamentary elections. The Parliamentary Election Rules, as applied to the border poll, did not require the number of unused papers, nor the number issued to voters, to be shown on a return.