Ballotbox.ie - the remote way to vote - For Emigrants.

BallotBox.ie: Brian

We are happy to announce the launch of BallotBox.ie - a place for all Irish citizens abroad to cast a symbolic vote.

As a group of emigrants in Canada we the level of interest in the election back home meant that something had to be done. For this to work the news of our launch has to spread as far and wide, as quick as possible and hopefully boards.ie can play an active role in this.

We are ready for any questions etc.

Ballotbox.ie will open for voting from Tuesday 15 February until Tuesday 22 February and will feature a full list of constituencies and candidates to choose from.

The aim is to highlight how emigrants are immediately disenfranchised once they leave Ireland. This is in stark contrast to many other democracies, including Australia, Canada, the UK and most other EU countries.

An estimated 3.1 million Irish passport holders live abroad, with 800,000 being Irish-born. Nearly 28,000 citizens left Ireland in the year ending April 2010, and at least 60,000 have left in the last three years. With very few exceptions, Irish law prevents them from casting a vote.

Set up by young Irish emigrants and implemented by a volunteer staff in Dublin, BallotBox.ie aims to give these people a voice. Voting will be based on the Irish single transferrable vote - proportional representation system. Through the use of IP technology, participation will be restricted to those living outside Ireland. The site aims to use both email and SMS technology to discourage multiple voting. The results will be released shortly before the general election.

jank

Great idea. Thanks

What party do you think has the greatest chance to implement emigrant voting? I hear FG want to grant emigrants the right to vote in Presidential elections. Simon Coveney is also keen on the idea.

BallotBox.ie: Brian

We aren't in the business of supporting one party over another, but know all too well that promises on voting rights for emigrants have been made before.


I'm hoping that the boards.ie community can help get the word out about BallotBox.ie - let me know if you have any ideas, contacts across the world.

thanks

Brian

Sponge Bob

I spotted you guys were plugged in the Times today, I proposed a reciprocal arrangement with Boards in the Vote sticky on the very top. I would be very interested in seeing who the world would vote for as President of Ireland if ye had time....probably Bono the Dutch tax exile

seanie57

Great idea!!!

munchkin_utd

fair play!

Ray Burkes Pension

Why should people living abroad for ten years be allowed to vote here?

My sister for example hasn't lived in Ireland for 20 years. She comes home for a few weeks every Christmas and doesnt understand what's going on in Ireland at all.

They don't pay tax here. Most of them don't understand what is actually happening in Ireland beyond the media hyperbole. And they don't have to deal with the consequences of their political decisions.

Kasabian

If only our politicians could be so forward thinking and allow Irish citizens to vote no matter their whereabouts.

They prefer to use these people to manipulate the live register on unemployment.

ztoical

Ray Burkes Pension wrote: »

Why should people living abroad for ten years be allowed to vote here?

My sister for example hasn't lived in Ireland for 20 years. She comes home for a few weeks every Christmas and doesnt understand what's going on in Ireland at all.

They don't pay tax here. Most of them don't understand what is actually happening in Ireland beyond the media hyperbole. And they don't have to deal with the consequences of their political decisions.

+ 1 I understand it's annoying for people who've just left due to work and plan to come back, hell I live in London myself right now and won't be able to head home for the next election, but there are a hell of alot of people holding Irish passports who don't have a clue whats going on in the country. My Aunt and Uncle have lived in the US for nearly 30years. They've been home a handful of times and their 3 kids all have Irish passports...they've been in the country maybe 30 days in total during their lifetime to date. The oldest two are now over 18....why should they have a vote in the running of a country they've little to no understanding of?

Sorting postal votes for people overseas for school or other temp situations yes but you'll find the vast majority of those 3 million passport holders are either long term out of the country or have never been here. A number of my american friends who've never been to Ireland have claimed irish passports via grandparents and the like to get access to the EU and if you asked them who'd the vote for they'd all say Sinn Fein cus they haven't a clue and it's the only party they've heard of.

Zubeneschamali

Ray Burkes Pension wrote: »

Why should people living abroad for ten years be allowed to vote here?

Guess which countries in the EU deny the vote to all citizens living abroad?

Just us, and our friends, the Greeks!

Ray Burkes Pension

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Guess which countries in the EU deny the vote to all citizens living abroad?

Just us, and our friends, the Greeks!

Surely you recognise Ireland as not a typical country with regard to the amount of passport holders living abroad. We have 3.1m on the electoral register and another 3m living abroad. Those votes would completely skew the election.

Zubeneschamali

Ray Burkes Pension wrote: »

Surely you recognise Ireland as not a typical country with regard to the amount of passport holders living abroad. We have 3.1m on the electoral register and another 3m living abroad. Those votes would completely skew the election.

If they were all allowed to vote, yes. There are a range of entitlements across the EU, some allow folks to vote for 5 years after they move, some more.

No-one would give all the my-grannies-irish passport holders a vote, but only the Greeks are as harsh on emigrants as we are and deny all of them the franchise.

BallotBox.ie: Brian

Nice to see the debate is going on here..

We are not advocating any one solution over another, we just want to draw attention to the issue. I am based in Toronto, and plan to come back to Ireland very soon, having been gone just 18 months.

I feel that there is something wrong when many of the Irish here have arrived because of the lack of work at home and rather than lean on the government have taken the step of leaving their friends and family behind and are rewarded with losing the vote. Many recent emigrants see their future, hope their future is in Ireland.

Psygnosis

Brian
This is a cracking Idea you should make a Facebook group for it.

I have sent it on to my 2 younger brothers one in Auz and one in Canada.

oppenheimer1

Why should people who do not have to live with the consequences of their decisions get the right to vote? Some Irish citizens have never been here.

Perhaps something could be done for those who are studying abroad or have only recently left and intend to return, but I would be absolutely against giving all emigrants and citizens abroad the right to vote.

No representation without taxation

munchkin_utd

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Guess which countries in the EU deny the vote to all citizens living abroad?

Just us, and our friends, the Greeks!

are ya sure?

im almost positive that they have seperate tds for the emmigrant vote

there was an election a few years back and i thought there was a report on telly on the 100s of thousands of greeks in germany voting

Reilly616

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Guess which countries in the EU deny the vote to all citizens living abroad?

Just us, and our friends, the Greeks!

So? It's relatively easy to become an Irish citizen (or to stay one after gaining another citizenship). So to say for example: "Germans allow all their citizens living abroad to vote" is pointless if you don't mention how strictly they regulate their citizenships.

jank

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

Why should people who do not have to live with the consequences of their decisions get the right to vote? Some Irish citizens have never been here.

Perhaps something could be done for those who are studying abroad or have only recently left and intend to return, but I would be absolutely against giving all emigrants and citizens abroad the right to vote.

No representation without taxation

FACEPALM! :rolleyes:

The same ol-ill informed agreements yet again...this has been done to death.

First of it is "No taxation without representation" not the other way around.
Secondly, I pay tax in Ireland and so do many other emigrants.
Thirdly, is paying tax a prerequisite to having a right to vote? Are we going back to the 18th century where only landlords and landowners had the right to vote?
Lastly, the right to vote is a keystone of a modern democracy. It should be respected.

PS. The European court of Human rights ruled in favour of 2 Greek Immigrants living in France that they do have the right to cast a ballot if living abroad. So that makes Ireland the ONLY country in the EU not to allow voting from abroad.

{Queue the arguments "We have a big expat population" Waahaa "We have lots of Irish citizens abroad" Waahaa waa "The north!?" Waaahaa}

Lots of other country's have big expat populations, ethnic divisions on its borders and many passports holders who have never been home. They managed to get around these issue...

{Waahaa waaa but waahaa...}

And so on..:rolleyes:

Are we done or do we need another 15 pages to discuss this.:)

jank

People should really get informed on what they are saying before they post.

Have a read of this.
http://www.ifes.org/publication/3dd9c7573d5b38d597a995a5533d456e/3%20IFES%20Challenging%20Election%20Norms%20and%20Standards%20WP%20EXTVOT.pdf

It is a well researched paper published by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems.

If you want something more detailed.
http://www.idea.int/publications/voting_from_abroad/index.cfm

The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance has this 278 page handbook detailing the issues, problems and solutions to this subject with plenty of case studies included.

The constitutions of many countries guarantee the right to vote for all citizens. However, in reality, voters who are outside their home country when elections take place are often disenfranchised because of a lack of procedures enabling them to exercise that right.

Voting from Abroad: The International IDEA Handbook examines the theoretical and practical issues surrounding external voting. It provides an overview of external voting provisions in 115 countries and territories around the world, including a map illustrating the regional spread.

I would ask posters to at least research this subject before making populist, emotional agruments.