Electoral fraud is carried out on a massive and organised scale in the North, especially by Sinn Fein, a number of Assembly members have claimed.
During a private members' debate calling for the chief electoral officer to inform the Assembly what measures he intended to take to prevent electoral fraud, some members said Sinn Fein organised vote stealing on a large scale.
Mr Derek Hussey of the UUP said that despite reports outlining the extent of the problem successive British governments had done nothing.
He said impersonation, using dead voters' identities and multiple registrations of voters, were all common and must be combated "if our democratic credentials are to be upheld". Mr Pat McNamee of Sinn Fein moved an amendment calling for a report on measures to "enable, facilitate and encourage" voter registration.
He said Sinn Fein had nothing to fear from any review of the voting process as there was no evidence to link his party with any electoral fraud. Mr McNamee conceded electoral fraud did exist, but he cited reports from academics and the RUC saying there was nothing to indicate any party in particular was responsible for it. Dr Joe Hendron of the SDLP said it was a "sick joke" that medical cards without photos or addresses could be used as proof of identification for voting.
The Rev William McCrea, of the DUP, said Sinn Fein were "political masters at vote stealing". In Mid Ulster "you will see them [Sinn Fein] taking the medical cards out of the boot of the car and handing them to the person, done openly because they have nothing to fear", he said.
He said it was not surprising there was little direct evidence of fraud. "That may just have something to do with the person calling with a gun at night-time or with a hood over their head to tell you if you make that complaint you will get kneecapped or shot."
Mr McCrea also reminded members of a BBC investigation which had discovered six voters registered to a one-bedroom flat in West Belfast, none of whom could be tracked down.
Mr Sean Neeson of the Alliance Party said postal and proxy votes were easily abused. Why, he asked, were voters in the west far more likely to vote postally. "I don't believe it is down to the weather, I believe there is something radically wrong," he said.
Meanwhile, Dr Ian Paisley denied accusations that he organised the persecution and massacre of Catholics at the start of the Troubles.
The DUP leader objected to comments by Sinn Fein MLA Ms Mary Nelis that he was a "prime mover" in pogroms that forced thousands of Catholics to move to the Republic in 1969.
The comments were made in the DUP leader's absence during a debate last week on the treatment of asylum-seekers.
Dr Paisley rejected the "very serious accusation that I organised persecution and massacre of Roman Catholics" before quoting the findings of the Scarman tribunal of April 1972 which concluded that his influence was no different from other political leaders.
Lord Scarman had said of him: "While his speeches and writings must have been one of the many factors increasing tension in 1969, he neither plotted nor organised the disorders under review and there is no evidence that he was a party to any of the acts of violence investigated by us."
Mr Paisley said the report gave the lie to Ms Nelis's claims adding they were further proof that republicans did not want to see him in the Assembly.
The Speaker, Lord Alderdice, suggested that members inform other members if they intended to make personal remarks about them in a debate. If individuals could not contact each other, "if there is any intention" to make personal remarks, "it might be done through the Speaker's office", he said.