Voter Registration

Victor

Yes it's that time of year to check you are on Santa's^H^H^H^H the tallymans list or to join it if you have just or will soon turn 18. Now is you turn to get back at the government (or not!).

There are Local and European Elections in May and a Presidential election is likely in November. The is also the possibility of referendums, but only a slight chance of a General Election.

This stolen from http://www.dlrcoco.ie/

Registration Process

The registration process in accordance with the Electoral Act 1992 is as follows:

1. Qualifying date: 1st. September in the year preceding the year in which the Register comes into force. (1/9/03)
2. Last date for sending of statement to registration authority by Civil Servants serving abroad: (30/9/03)
3. Publication of Draft Register: 1 November 2003
4. Last date for receipt of applications to be entered on Special Voters List or Postal Voters List:25 November 03
5. Last date for making claims: 25 November 03
6. Publication of List of Claims 30 November 03
7. Completion of return by County Registrar of endorsed List of Claims: 23 December 03
8. Publication of Register: 1 February 2004
9. Coming into force of Register: Fourteenth day after publication of the Register. 2004

To be registered, a person must be 18 years of age or over on the date the Register comes into force. (15/2/04)

The main steps in the registration process are:

1. House to house enquiries to identify necessary changes for the publication of the Draft Register
2. Publication of a Draft Register
3. Draft available for public checking and making of claims if necessary
4. Publication of List of Claims
5. Consideration of List of Claims and any objections to the List, by the County Registrar
6. Publication of completed Register

Published documents are made available for checking at Post Offices, Garda Stations and Public Libraries as well as at the Local Authority's offices. They are also circulated to public representatives.

Not every person registered is entitled to vote at every election. The right to vote is as follows: -

(1) Irish Citizens may vote at every election and referendum.
(2) British Citizens may vote at Dail, European and local elections
(3) Other EU Citizens may vote at European and local elections.
(4) Non EU Citizens may vote at local elections only.

A person may not be registered in respect of more than one address.

Presidential electors only, are qualified and liable to serve as jurors (unless for the time being ineligible or disqualified).

Supplement to the Register

A person, who is qualified to be registered but, for any reason, is not included on the published register, may apply to be included on a supplement to the register. Application forms for entry on the supplement are available which give details on making applications. The Supplement may also contain corrections, if found necessary, due to clerical or typographical errors.

RFA2 Application Form & Notes (for inclusion on supplement)
RFA3 Change of Address Application Form & Notes

Postal Voters List
The following categories are eligible for inclusion in the Postal Voters List.

(1) Persons who are unable to vote at his/her polling station on polling day due to their occupation/education.
(2) Members of the Defence Forces, Gardai, Diplomatic corps (including spouses) serving abroad.
(3) Persons normally resident at home who are unable to vote in person at their polling station due to physical illness or disability.

PV1 Application Form (see no. 3 above)
PV2 Application Form (see no. 1 above)

Special Voters List
(1) Persons normally resident in an institution who are unable to vote at his/her polling station due to physical illness or disability are eligible for inclusion in the Special Voters List.

SV1 Application Form

Postal Voters Occupation

Supplement: Persons not included on the published Postal Voters List or Special Voters List may apply for inclusion in a supplement to the Postal Voters List or Special Voters Lists, which is prepared in advance of each Election/Referendum.

Advertising Campaign
Extensive advertising campaigns are carried out each year, both by the Local Authorities and the Department of the Environment to bring the registration process to the attention of the public, and to encourage maximum involvement in order to achieve a high standard of accuracy.

The electorate for 2003/2004 is 152,231

Printed copies of the Register are available for purchase at the Council’s Offices.

Important Notice: The Edited Register
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council must publish two versions of the Register of Electors in 2004 – the ‘full’ Register and the ‘edited Register.

The Edited Register will list only those persons who indicate that their details may be used for other purposes, e.g. direct marketing by a commercial or other organization.

The Full Register will list everyone who is entitled to vote and can only be used for electoral or other statutory purposes.

If you want your details or those of any member of your household to be included in the 'edited' register, you should tick the 'YES' box on the RFA Form which will be delivered to your home during July and August. The RFA Form can also be downloaded from this web page.

You may search the DRLcoco website to see if you are on the list.

Forms available from
http://www.dlrcoco.ie/forms/FORMS.HTM and
http://www.dublincity.ie/services/forms/frmindexcat.htm#voters

swiss

Thread stickied for the next few weeks.

I strongly recommend that anyone who is 18 or over and who is not yet registered to vote register themselves. Remember, if you're not registered to vote, you're not registered to have a voice.

Capt'n Midnight

Maybe put in some of the votes that we can expect over the next 12 months ?
Apart of course for the byelections and snap general elections which could happen at any time.

Éomer of Rohan

Not that any of it matters since the elections are decided by people all to easily brainwashed by clever propaganda, most of which increasingly comes from a government willing to use emotional blackmail, soundbytism and TV advertising to force it's agenda.

Oh god, maybe I do need glasses, I thought it was sparks posted the above


In all fairness though, I and many of my friends are exposed to the same media as everyone else and they are as critical but selectively critical as the next.
They certainly aren't brainwashed.

mm

Sparks

Originally posted by Man
Oh god, maybe I do need glasses, I thought it was sparks posted the above

No, Eomar thinks elections are useless because the electorate are gullible, I think they're useless because the election itself is
1) Set up to prevent real choice, and
2) Too infrequent and hence compress too many decisions down to one choice, thus losing too much information.

Éomer of Rohan

I agree with that also Sparks but when the electorate is so gullible, it allows elections to become the tool of their rulers - which is not actually the contradiction it seems.

Man, I am not saying everyone is 'brainwashed' but I do believe that the majority of people are far too easily swayed by dumb ideas and that the intelligent minority therefore have little impact on elections.

There are always exceptions.

Imposter

Postal Voters List
The following categories are eligible for inclusion in the Postal Voters List.

(1) Persons who are unable to vote at his/her polling station on polling day due to their occupation/education.
(2) Members of the Defence Forces, Gardai, Diplomatic corps (including spouses) serving abroad.
(3) Persons normally resident at home who are unable to vote in person at their polling station due to physical illness or disability.

Ok some stupid questions here:
What is needed to prove that you are unable to attend due to occupation?
What exactly is "normally resident" and does it apply to (1)?

Victor

Originally posted by Imposter
Ok some stupid questions here:
What is needed to prove that you are unable to attend due to occupation? What exactly is "normally resident" and does it apply to (1)?

If, say, you are a college student and are away during term, you may be registered at home and at your term address. Home would be where you are "normal resident", sometiem it mean where you are resident for 183 nights per year or the home you intend to return to when finished with a temporary occupation.

If let us say you work for a builder and are sent to site as a foreman on the other side of the counrty this might qualify as "unable to attend due to occupation".

Imposter

In my case i'm living in the EU but by the regulations it seems I may be entitled to a vote. Here's what i'm reading into what's in the posted article:

The right to vote is as follows: -
(1) Irish Citizens may vote at every election and referendum.

and wrt postal votes:

The following categories are eligible for inclusion in the Postal Voters List.
(1) Persons who are unable to vote at his/her polling station on polling day due to their occupation/education.

I can't see anything else that says that I can't vote (provided I could meet the criteria for the postal vote). There is nothing in that postal vote part about "normally resident".

So as someone who is "normally resident" in the EU am I allowed to vote? Now technically I'm not outside of Ireland just because of my occupation but as I am Irish and because I work in Europe I can't be at my polling station on voting day do I qualify for a postal vote?

Éomer of Rohan

Ask your local MEP.

Originally posted by Éomer of Rohan

Man, I am not saying everyone is 'brainwashed' but I do believe that the majority of people are far too easily swayed by dumb ideas and that theintelligent minority therefore have little impact on elections.

There are always exceptions.

I've often wondered what people would think, if that was said at the doorstep or on tv by a candidate or party
Think about what you are saying there seriously though, that the majority of the electorate aren't inteligent enough to vote properly.
Thats very condesending

originally posted by sparks:
2) Too infrequent and hence compress too many decisions down to one choice, thus losing too much information.

One word.
Italy

mm

Éomer of Rohan

Quoted from Man
Think about what you are saying there seriously though, that the majority of the electorate aren't inteligent enough to vote properly

It depends on how you qualify intelligence. The majority of the electorate simply do not know enough about politics to be allowed to vote on many occasions in my personal opinion; a state of mind helped by the media and 'soundbytism' we see and hear every day. As a Professor Powell said, it's the reduction of complex issues to single issues - I disagreed with him that popular marxism was a form of it (he claimed Marxists tried to reduce everything to economics) - but agree with him that the media and politicians themselves to a large extent take active part in it.

Originally posted by Éomer of Rohan
It depends on how you qualify intelligence. The majority of the electorate simply do not know enough about politics to be allowed to vote on many occasions in my personal opinion; a state of mind helped by the media and 'soundbytism' we see and hear every day.

That may have some validity in America, but I don't see how it could be the case here.
Questions and Answers,Primetime, BBC 2's newsnight.
I'd hate to get on the wrong side of the presenters of any of those shows.
Our news bulletins are far from sound byte presentations either.
What you are saying reads like another flavour of what was being said in the right to run thread.

I simply cannot accept that people are divided into two groups, the minority who understand who they should vote for and the majority who don't.

mm

Éomer of Rohan

Have you ever actually listened to people like Paxman and co?

They are exactly the ones who aid and abet the politicians who reduce political issues to one or two issues - for example watching a program there the other night with Nigel Dodds on it (and several other low key politicians) you'd get the impression that this election in the North is about the Unionist peoples wanting to remain part of the union - and that flies in the face of reality never mind history!

Victor

Imposter (interesting name by the way), you are already entitled to registered to vote in that other EU country (EU & local), so no. You can't have it both ways, you can't vote twice.

Originally posted by Éomer of Rohan
Have you ever actually listened to people like Paxman and co?

Often.
And he doesn't let politicians off the hook, he's certainly not a "sound-byteist" or in league with them.

Bowman's Questions and answers is similarally well run with issues questioned in depth but maybe not answered very well by some.

Our news programmes aren't sound byte-ist at all in my opinion,they are there to inform and they do that very well.

I can't see how one can dismiss the majority of the electorate as being ignorant of politics and the issues. It's actually a very eletist and demeaning approach to take towards them, and one that doesn't bear up to scrutiny in my opinion.
The same people do far more complicated and inteligent things every day than deciding who is doing right by them and who is doing wrong by them, and so to say they are not capable of at least that is to me just simply Wrong .

mm

Imposter

Originally posted by Victor
Imposter (interesting name by the way), you are already entitled to registered to vote in that other EU country (EU & local), so no. You can't have it both ways, you can't vote twice.

I know I can vote here in EU and Local elections but not in national elections as i'm not a citizen. The reason I asked was because of the rules for voting that you posted above. Reading them there is nothing barring me from voting providing I either travel home to vote or can somehow get a postal vote 'due to my occupation'.

I agree I shouldn't be allowed to 'have it both ways' but I don't seem to be disqualified from voting in national elections in Ireand and was wondering how i might be able to obtain a postal vote.

Éomer of Rohan

Quoted from Man
Often.
And he doesn't let politicians off the hook, he's certainly not a "sound-byteist" or in league with them.

Bowman's Questions and answers is similarally well run with issues questioned in depth but maybe not answered very well by some.

Our news programmes aren't sound byte-ist at all in my opinion,they are there to inform and they do that very well.

I can't see how one can dismiss the majority of the electorate as being ignorant of politics and the issues. It's actually a very eletist and demeaning approach to take towards them, and one that doesn't bear up to scrutiny in my opinion.
The same people do far more complicated and inteligent things every day than deciding who is doing right by them and who is doing wrong by them, and so to say they are not capable of at least that is to me just simply Wrong .

I watch the very same news programmes, from Newsnight down, and Paxman is like a dog with a bone, I'll admit, but all it is, is points-scoring with him; he finds a single issue and just keeps hammering away - and you said it yourself, the politicians generally fail to answer very well, choosing to distort the question as necessary - it's like listening to George W Bush talk about freedom - it makes me want to break something.

I am not saying that the electorate is not capable, I AM saying that it is consistently the case that politicians try to destroy the capacity of the electorate to make such decisions and they do this oftentimes with the media as an accomplice.

I will agree to disagree with you Man because I cordially detest most news programmes on which politicians appear because I believe they try to hammer things down to simple single issue problems when they are generally not that simple at all - and you believe the news programmes fill their ostensible goals.

Fair enough Éomer we'll agree to disagree on whether the media do a good job or not.

But in relation to:

Originally posted by Éomer of Rohan
The majority of the electorate simply do not know enough about politics to be allowed to vote on many occasions in my personal opinion; a state of mind helped by the media and 'soundbytism' we see and hear every day.

I'll have to profoundly disagree with you on that bit in bold above.

mm

Éomer of Rohan

Quoted from Man
I'll have to profoundly disagree with you on that bit in bold above.

Fine, just so long as you recognise that it's not because I think the electorate are all stupid, rather because their capacity to judge is seriously impaired unless they themselves actually put aside time to read about politics rather than just what they might catch every so often on the news - and I am attributing this to society as a whole, the shift away from politics toward personal indulgence but more significantly, to the newscasters like Paxman and to the politicians and their often-inadequate-even-more-often-dubious answers.

Victor

Originally posted by Éomer of Rohan
The majority of the electorate simply do not know enough about politics to be allowed to vote on many occasions in my personal opinion

There is a big difference between []allowed[/i] and capable of making an informed choice. What if I told you that you couldn't shop in Tesco's in the morning, because you didn't know enough about the company and it's products?

Everyone should be allowed vote, even if they pick the politicians by the colours of their clothes or by rolling dice. Whether people decide by fad or informed choice is **their** choice, not yours. Otherwise you are being an academic / political elitist, much like Sir Humphrey (he's making it all too often to this board recently ) when he advocates licences before people can have children.

Éomer of Rohan

Quoted from Man
What if I told you that you couldn't shop in Tesco's in the morning, because you didn't know enough about the company and it's products?

You are never going to guess where I work and where I am currently training as a manager in order to get paid more while I am at Uni.

They shouldn't be allowed to vote - but on principle I accept that it is not my call. Fair enough?

Victor

Originally posted by Éomer of Rohan
You are never going to guess where I work and where I am currently training as a manager in order to get paid more while I am at Uni.

What if I still maintained that position despite your present employment?

Originally posted by Éomer of Rohan
They shouldn't be allowed to vote

It may be wrong (not making them out to be bad people) for them to vote in an uniformed way, but that is the way of the world.

Éomer of Rohan

Oops, I just noticed it is Victor continuing the argument - sorry!

Quoted from Victor
What if I still maintained that position despite your present employment?

I'd say I know a damn sight more about the company than most people therefore there would be no analogy.

Quoted from Victor
It may be wrong (not making them out to be bad people) for them to vote in an uniformed way, but that is the way of the world.

It may be the way of the world but that doesn't mean I have to like it - capitalism is a current 'way of the world' but ways of the world come and go - for example, there is no institutionalised buggery in Sparta where once there was.

Victor

Originally posted by Éomer of Rohan
for example, there is no institutionalised buggery in Sparta where once there was.

Yes, it's mostly social and personal these days. Strange the way Greeks aren't as narrow minded as Irish people.

Éomer of Rohan

Quoted from Victor
Yes, it's mostly social and personal these days. Strange the way Greeks aren't as narrow minded as Irish people

Don't allow my dulcet tones to lead you to believe that I think there is something wrong with the former Spartan attitude - I have no opinion either way. That is to say, I am far from narrow minded.

I was tempted to say far from Irish too but I will leave that alone lol.

Agent Smith

Originally posted by Éomer of Rohan
Ask your local MEP.

who is my local mep?



(i live in killiney)

Victor

Originally posted by agent smith
who is my local mep?

You have 5 in the Dublin constituency. Check out www.gov.ie and you'll find them.

Agent Smith

looked,,,,, cant find! help

vinnyfitz

here

http://www.dublin.ie/democracy/european.asp

Victor

Large file http://www.environ.ie/DOEI/DOEIPol.nsf/0/588f0ce7a372f8c480256b7c0042de9d/$FILE/euro99.doc

Mary Banotti (FG)
Niall Andrews (FF)
Patricia McKenna (GP)
Proinsias De Rossa (LAB)

Victor

Originally posted by Imposter
I know I can vote here in EU and Local elections but not in national elections as i'm not a citizen. The reason I asked was because of the rules for voting that you posted above. Reading them there is nothing barring me from voting providing I either travel home to vote or can somehow get a postal vote 'due to my occupation'.

There is a section on the actual registration form dealing with this. If you are an EU non-national, your registration data is copied to your home country to prevent you being on two registers.

Reading here: http://www.environ.ie/DOEI/DOEIPol.nsf/0/588f0ce7a372f8c480256b7c0042de9d/$FILE/register.doc

4. POSTAL VOTERS LIST
.....
• persons whose occupations are likely to prevent them from voting at their local polling station on election day, including full-time students registered at home who are living elsewhere while attending an educational institution in the State.
An elector registered as a postal voter may vote by post only and may not vote at a polling station.

This seems to indicate that employment away from home entitiles you to a postal vote, whether from the main or supplementary register. I'm not sure if that extends to places outside the state.

wasabi

this may be a bit ott but one thing i love about the voter registration process is how pretty much every house in the state gets a form through the letterbox but if you live in a flat you don't (going by my friends anyway). there can't be any good reason for this. it should be fairly obvious to postmen where people are living as opposed to business premises.

it's counterproductive as probably a very large slice of the younger people who aren't yet registered or foreign nationals who need to register for local/MEP elections are flat dwellers.

never got my iodine tablets either, starting to feel like a bit of a second class citizen

Victor

http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/breaking/2071745?view=Eircomnet

Date set for European and local elections
From:ireland.com
Tuesday, 2nd December, 2003

European and local elections will take place on June 11th, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government announced this evening.

Mr Cullen said polling would take place between 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Anybody over the age of 18 is entitled to be register to vote in the local elections and citizenship is not a requirement.

Every Irish and EU citizen living in Ireland aged over 18 and registered in the register of electors is entitled to vote in the European election.

More than three million people are currently registered to vote. A new register of electors will be published on February 1st, 2004.

Voting and counting for all of the elections will be carried out electronically, after the system was successfully piloted in the General Election and referendum last year.