Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams has described the new Northern Ireland electoral register as seriously flawed.

Mr Adams said according to the census figures released last month, nearly 190,000 people who should have been on the register had been missed off.

He said the situation was scandalous and that the electoral office should inform all those registered to vote that they have been counted.

He said the office should also approach the tens of thousands of people whose names have disappeared from the register.

Mr Adams laid out his case against the Electoral Office on Wednesday.

Electoral officials have acknowledged that many young people have not been registered, but they are reminding anyone missed off that they still have a chance to get their names on the register.

The latest electoral register, compiled after the introduction of new anti-fraud measures, showed a sharp decline in the number of people registered to vote.

Gerry Adams: Too many people have been missed

The register published in November last year showed a dramatic fall of 130,000 voters across Northern Ireland.

But the trend was greatest in the West Belfast constituency, where about 11,000 - or nearly one in five names - were missed off.

Sinn Fein, however, has been consistently critical of the registration process, which it claims was badly organised and confused many voters.

Mr Adams said the electoral authorities failed to register as many as 80% of first-time voters.

New system

Electoral officials said many young people did not fill in the new registration forms and there were particular problems in inner city areas with a high population turnover.

But they emphasised there was still a chance for people to claim their vote through a continuing process of rolling registration.

An extensive registration campaign was launched in September and forms were sent to more than a million people who were previously registered to vote.

In the past, just one form was given out to each household.

Now every individual voter has to fill out a form, supply their national insurance number, date of birth and sign it personally.

A helpline and website have also been set up to help voters understand the new system.

To vote at the next election they will have to present photographic identification in the polling station.

Acceptable ID will include a British or Irish passport, a Northern Ireland driving licence, or a Translink Senior Smartpass.