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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The NWT's voice in Ottawa wants a full account of the impact of "onerous" new identification rules for voters.

Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington will be looking for answers on what effect the rules had on the recent federal election.

"I'll be pressuring the chief electoral officer to do a complete report on these new rules," he said.

Elections Canada did not keep statistics on the number of people who failed to present proper identification.

In essence, the new rules require voters to show approved ID or swear an oath and be vouched for by another voter with proper identification.

Bevington is not sure how many people in the NWT were not allowed to vote in the Oct. 14 election because of the new rules.

"But I've heard anecdotally there were people turned away and perhaps coming back and perhaps not," he said.

There were 13,677 valid votes recorded in the NWT, which is a significant decline from the 16,132 in the 2006 federal election.

Bevington said that decline could partially be explained by the identification rules.

The MP said the only actual statistic he has seen on the possible effect of the new rules is from Nunavut. There, 10 per cent of 223 people were turned away at an advance poll.

Diane Benson, a spokesperson for Elections Canada in Ottawa, said the chief electoral officer has to provide a statutory report on the conduct of an election to Parliament within 90 days of a vote.

A recommendations report must also follow as soon as is practical, she said.

"Elections Canada will be evaluating the new voter ID provisions and looking at ways to improve the process," Benson said.

Elections Canada understands there were problems for some electors, she added, although she said the agency doesn't keep track of the number of people turned away, just valid votes and spoiled ballots.

However, she said would-be voters who had problems can call Elections Canada.

"They can provide valuable information to help Elections Canada understand what their experience was at the polls," Benson said.

Bevington said he doesn't believe people being turned away from the polls affected the outcome in Western Arctic, but said that was possible in some ridings where the vote was much closer.

The MP said he is concerned the new rules will worsen the trend towards fewer people voting.

"To me, it's such a fundamental issue," he said. "You can't take away people's right to vote."

Bevington said the new rules don't work very well in the North and much of rural Canada.

Check out how the votes were cast in the federal election on page 17.