TCD Students not on Register

ICanMakeSound

Hundreds of TCD students, possibly even over a thousand, have been refused at the polls today and are being told that they are not on the register. All of these students registered in November of 2010 on campus. The Dublin City Council have informed the TCDSU that they failed to process the applications due to the large number of applicants.

Luckily I wasn't one of those affected by this, but it is obvious that this could and probably will have a big effect on the outcomes of several constituencies, especially Dublin South.

mullenja

Apparently large numbers of students who signed onto the voter register in a drive to get students to vote in Trinity have been left off the register by county councils. Some who signed up are registered, others are not.

Is there anything that can be done about this and is this the only occurrence of this happening?

takun

Didn't I read in an earlier thread (can't find it now) that although the registrations were completed in November, they were only delivered to Dublin City Council a day or two before the closing date for applications to get on the register?

So not entirely the council's fault perhaps? Though they could have pulled out some stops.

Dylan haskins will be furious. I'd say he would've got a fair share of that vote!

ICanMakeSound

takun wrote: »

Didn't I read in an earlier thread (can't find it now) that although the registrations were completed in November, they were only delivered to Dublin City Council a day or two before the closing date for applications to get on the register?

So not entirely the council's fault perhaps? Though they could have pulled out some stops.

I'm not entirely clued up on the whole situation to be honest. If that's the case it was a little bit silly of the TCDSU but even still, the applications should have been processed.

rockmongrel

Jaysus, the SU is going to get a bollicking if this is true.

Sierra Oscar

If I remember correctly, there was also an issue with one of the councils refusing to accept the registrations passed on by USI in relation to one of the universities in Dublin. The registration forms were all packaged in the one envelope, whereas the regulations outline that each registration form must be in their own unique envelope. Big cock up on the part of the SU.

RubyLila

I'm a Trinity student who would have been caught in this trap if I hadn't double-checked for myself, then done the leg-work when I realised something had gone wrong. I told as many people as I could, so managed to get a few extra voters in, but the students' union just ignored the problem. They didn't even bother replying to my emails after the first one.

takun

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=70576584&postcount=240

RogerThis

From the RTE website:

There have been some reports of people not receiving their polling cards, but you do not need a polling card to cast a vote, once you are entitled to do so.
Whether or not you have a polling card, you may be asked to prove your identity at the polling station.
Acceptable forms of identification include a passport or driving licence and an employee or student identity card with a photograph.
Other forms of acceptable identification include a bank or credit union book showing an address in the constituency and - when accompanied by a further document proving an address in the constituency - a cheque book or card, a credit card, or a birth or marriage certificate.

Clemon

lolzers

ICanMakeSound

RogerThis wrote: »

From the RTE website:

There have been some reports of people not receiving their polling cards, but you do not need a polling card to cast a vote, once you are entitled to do so.
Whether or not you have a polling card, you may be asked to prove your identity at the polling station.
Acceptable forms of identification include a passport or driving licence and an employee or student identity card with a photograph.
Other forms of acceptable identification include a bank or credit union book showing an address in the constituency and - when accompanied by a further document proving an address in the constituency - a cheque book or card, a credit card, or a birth or marriage certificate.

If you're not on the register, no form of I.D will get you a vote.

mystique150

RogerThis wrote: »

From the RTE website:

There have been some reports of people not receiving their polling cards, but you do not need a polling card to cast a vote, once you are entitled to do so.
Whether or not you have a polling card, you may be asked to prove your identity at the polling station.
Acceptable forms of identification include a passport or driving licence and an employee or student identity card with a photograph.
Other forms of acceptable identification include a bank or credit union book showing an address in the constituency and - when accompanied by a further document proving an address in the constituency - a cheque book or card, a credit card, or a birth or marriage certificate.

I think the OP is implying that these students were not actually on the register. I didn't have a polling card but my name was on still on the register.

PurpleFistMixer

TCD SU is so incompetent it is affecting affairs of national concern.

ICanMakeSound

#notregisteredGE11 is trending in Dublin on Twitter now. Haskins is looking into it apparently.

delta_bravo

ICanMakeSound wrote: »

#notregisteredGE11 is trending in Dublin on Twitter now. Haskins is looking into it apparently.

What? What? and Who?

ICanMakeSound

delta_bravo wrote: »

What? What? and Who?

Uhm, how to explain...

#notregisteredge11 is the hashtag people are using on twitter when talking about this.

Trending is when a large number of people use the same hashtag in their tweets.

Haskins = Dylan Haskins. An Independent running in Dublin South-East

delta_bravo

TCDSU replied to this problem a 10 days ago on this post

Hey Guys,

Saw this post and thought I should reply to combat any hysteria.

I personally oversaw the entire voter registration and can guarantee you that every possible precaution was taken to make sure that everyone who registered with us, had their voter form returned to their County/City Council correctly. (About 2,500 forms).

As instructed by the Dept. of Local Gov each of our forms was mailed in separate envelopes,to the correct Council with Gardai stamps(when required) and a day ahead of the deadline both in November and in Feb.


Both myself and USI contacted a number of Councils and the Dept. of Local Government to ensure there was no problems with out voter drive. Every single one of them assured us that they was no problem expect for Fingal County Council.

Fingal county council, refused to accept the forms, because they were part of a voter registration drive ( read laziness). They were subsequently brought to court by USI, and they settled out of court agreeing to accept all the forms.

After we found in Feb 1st(the date it was meant to be updated by) that the check the register website had not been updated, we again contacted county councils and Dept. of Local government. The reply was that they have been flooded from applications from not only students but also new voters in the run up to the elections and that the register had not been updated as they were still trawling through all the applications. We have been assured that EVERY form that is in their current backlog will be on the register come voting day.

Personally after running this campaign I was furious with how little regard the Government have for giving people their right to vote.

Why is it that for the vast majority of the year you need a Garda stamp on your Voter Registration form but for the 25 days from the 1st of November you don't?

Why in this day and age, does the Voter Registration process have to be so labour intensive, when it could be very easily replaced with an online system, using PPS numbers?

Why would does a County Council have to be taken to court to be made accept perfectly legitimate voter registration forms?




Nikolai

I can't see this ending well, especially if what the student union says is true!

I registered with the SU in November, was assured in February when I still hadn't been added to the register that it was all sorted and it just hadn't been updated online...

Decided to double check at the garda station the day before the closing date for applications, found I definitely was Not on the register and luckily managed to get a supplementary form in just in time.

Could very well have been one of those students unable to vote today, whoever's to blame for this is going to get some fury!

Garseys

I feel sorry for Trinity Students but thats what you get when you let USI look after an issue for you.:rolleyes:

Jack Sheehan

At least they got to vote in the SU elections, thats the main thing.

davetherave

Could they not do it themselves?? Or do they need someone to hold their hands and tell them how to spell their names?

Why would you let someone else take care of something that is this important? You get the form from your post office, you fill it out and you post it to your Co Co. Simples

TrinityPhD

davetherave wrote: »

Could they not do it themselves?? Or do they need someone to hold their hands and tell them how to spell their names?

Why would you let someone else take care of something that is this important? You get the form from your post office, you fill it out and you post it to your Co Co. Simples

I would have, except that I thought I had registerd. I was planning to register in November, when I walked past the SU booth and found I could sign up on the spot.

What really galls me is that the SU knew that there were problems well in advance of the Feb 8th deadline. Yes they had assurances from the council, but they knew there were problems, all they needed to do was send out an email before Feb 8th to say there were problems and that anyone who had registered with them should reregister to be 100% sure.