THE Electoral Commission is reminding voters they only have a few days left to register if they wish to cast their ballot in next month's Assembly election.

The Commission has said voters must be registered by Monday if they wish to vote in the election on May 5th.

Eligible voters will also be able to cast their ballot at the Brexit referendum, scheduled for June 23rd.

A helpline for voter registration has received almost 10,000 calls in recent weeks, the Electoral Commission has said, while 2,700 forms have been issued by the Electoral Office.

According to the Commission, research carried out last year showed that a quarter of people in the north wrongly believed they could register up until the day of the election.

Facebook has used its network to promote the message, which it also did prior to last May's Westminster election, by sending out reminders via its newsfeed.

Ann Watt, head of the Electoral Commission, said: "Working with Facebook provides a unique opportunity for a huge number of people to see this really important message before the deadline.

"After 18 April, the chance to register to vote in the Northern Ireland Assembly election will have passed. If you aren’t registered yet, you should take a few minutes to download and complete an application form from www.aboutmyvote.co.uk."

Theo Lomas from Facebook said: "Over 35 million people in the UK use Facebook, considerably more than the number of people who voted in the last general election."