Do people care about the Constitution?

Mint Sauce

Just cast my vote, and casually asked about the turn out as I usally do, for the booth I cast my vote in, its currently only 25%. Now you could argue that maybe people will vote after they get home from work, or later in the evening. But surely after 12 hours you would expect it to be higher.

Is it because people are not being educated on what the Referendum is about, or do they just don't care. From memory turn out has been low on the last couple as well.

For the Mods. Can I keep this separate from the Referendum Threads, as I won't like to see peoples opinons on the Constitution, rather than this particular Referendum.

Me, I make it my business to go out and vote, I'm entitled to it, I use it. Even when I was studying, I made the effort to go home to cast my vote, people can't complain about the Government or the Constitution changes if they have not cast their opinion. I don't beleive it should be made compulsory to vote, as its individual choose, or restrictions put in place on people who dont, but for a document so important to our history, and to its future, I'm surprised more don't make the effort.

stimpson

I just look to see how the government want me to vote and then do the opposite.

Birroc

Yes and Yes!

Muise...

stimpson wrote: »

I just look to see how the government want me to vote and then do the opposite.

curse the day you turned 18.

hansfrei

Vote
Vote again
Get lied to by the government that "Europe" will make us do it.

hmmm

Mint Sauce wrote: »

I'm surprised more don't make the effort.

Well done on voting. The majority of the people in this country are lazy knowitalls who want everything handed to them - there'll be tens of thousands in the pubs tonight pontificating about the Senate who won't have voted.

hansfrei

hmmm wrote: »

Well done on voting. The majority of the people in this country are lazy knowitalls who want everything handed to them - there'll be tens of thousands in the pubs tonight pontificating about the Senate who won't have voted.

Thousands in the pubs?

The Backwards Man

People don't deserve the right to vote. Benign dictatorships are the wave of the future.

hansfrei

The Backwards Man wrote: »

People don't deserve the right to vote. Benign dictatorships are the wave of the future.

And thats what will happen.

stimpson

Muise... wrote: »

curse the day you turned 18.

Sorry, I mean I vote according to the side my great grandfather fought for in the civil war. Like most of the country it seems.

Muise...

stimpson wrote: »

Sorry, I mean I vote according to the side my great grandfather fought for in the civil war. Like most of the country it seems.

This is a thread about the Constitution, not a general election. Was there was a skirmish over the Seanad and Court of Appeal back in the Troubles?

y0ssar1an22

Remember that disaster that was e-Voting? They should implement an internet based voting system. More people would probably do it from the comfort of their own homes. Surely not that hard to implement. They sent out voting dockets (?) with your name,voting office, etc - why not include a log-in code and bob's your uncle.

Gee Bag

I think most people dont vote in referendu.s because they haven' t a clue what the constitution is

stimpson

Muise... wrote: »

This is a thread about the Constitution, not a general election. Was there was a skirmish over the Seanad and Court of Appeal back in the Troubles?

And there's me thinking that the parties took a stance on referendums.

Muise...

stimpson wrote: »

And there's me thinking that the parties took a stance on referendums.

Oops - cross purposes and category errors.

I see the Constitution as above party politics, although it is through politics that changes are proposed.

[my great-grandfather burned a rick of hay to celebrate the enactment of the constitution, so I suppose my allegiance is to the play rather than the players. ]

Very low turnout down here. Tomorrows count could end up something like this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvvHdNSR60g

hfallada

Infairness it was a BS referendum which just so happened to be close to the budget. Which has meant all the newspapers have just been talking about the Senead rather than the budget.

We should be voting on something which change people's lives properly. Like liberalising divorce laws( 4 years to divorce someone is beyond a joke) and not allowing same sex marriage (as its a contradiction against the family values in our constitution).

SilverScreen

I dream of a totalitarian Ireland

Seriously though, those who don't bother voting in referendums and elections have no right to moan and complain about the government. Even though I voted today I still felt that I should have been voting on something more important, like same-sex marriage.

jill_valentine

SilverScreen wrote: »

I dream of a totalitarian Ireland

Seriously though, those who don't bother voting in referendums and elections have no right to moan and complain about the government. Even though I voted today I still felt that I should have been voting on something more important, like same-sex marriage.

Yeah. I voted, but the issues did feel fairly inconsequential. While I want to keep the senate, realistically, I don't believe there'll be much of a difference to my life one way or the other. Same with court of appeal.

Seems a bit mad to me that we can have a referendum over something like this, but stuff that actually matters to people, like same sex marriage, is left on the long finger because gosh, it just takes so much time and money to organise something like this. I mean, obviously, I understand why it's politically convenient and all, it's just frustrating.

I think if people felt like the subjects mattered, or that either result could make a real impact, there probably would be a better turnout. As it is people are pretty disillusioned with the governmental process in general, and it needs to be a bigger deal than that to overcome the sense of malaise.

tosspot15

I didnt research a single thing on this before I voted today. Aside from what people have been saying. Havent even listened to the radio or watched a tv debate.

Basically. No I dont care.

SilverScreen

jill_valentine wrote: »

Yeah. I voted, but the issues did feel fairly inconsequential. While I want to keep the senate, realistically, I don't believe there'll be much of a difference to my life one way or the other. Same with court of appeal.

Seems a bit mad to me that we can have a referendum over something like this, but stuff that actually matters to people, like same sex marriage, is left on the long finger because gosh, it just takes so much time and money to organise something like this. I mean, obviously, I understand why it's politically convenient and all, it's just frustrating.

I think if people felt like the subjects mattered, or that either result could make a real impact, there probably would be a better turnout. As it is people are pretty disillusioned with the governmental process in general, and it needs to be a bigger deal than that to overcome the sense of malaise.

While I'm all for democracy and people having a say in how the country is run and everything, referendums which are not really that significant to us are hardly worth spending the money holding.

I'd be in favour of some sort of internet voting system for smaller referendums like these, I like the idea of voting from my smartphone Would save time and money and might get a larger percentage of voters. Internet voting has already been used in Switzerland, Estonia and a few other countries. But the major obstacle would be not everyone having quick access to the internet here.

donegal__road

Why did the Irishman vote twice on the same referendum?

To be sure to be sure.



*Lisbon Treaty joke

Dartz

I voted.

I was the only person in the polling station at the time.

"Slow?"

"Yup"

SilverScreen

donegal__road wrote: »

Why did the Irishman vote twice on the same referendum?

To be sure to be sure.



*Lisbon Treaty joke

I wanted to vote twice. There was a very attractive lady working at the polling station.

RandomName2

hmmm wrote: »

The majority of the people in this country are lazy knowitalls who want everything handed to them - there'll be tens of thousands in the pubs tonight pontificating about the Senate who won't have voted.

That's not true. I personally may not have voted, but I know it wouldn't have made a difference because the system is such that the government is going to get its way, either way. And sure, the Senate, useless institution if you ask me. Also I believe that if people want me to vote they should at least hand it to me, the station is at least 200 metres from where I work.

Muise...

RandomName2 wrote: »

That's not true. I personally may not have voted, but I know it wouldn't have made a difference because the system is such that the government is going to get its way, either way. And sure, the Senate, useless institution if you ask me. Also I believe that if people want me to vote they should at least hand it to me, the station is at least 200 metres from where I work.

but it's important.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3zIpkc_Vm0

Kidchameleon

Lisbon 2 killed democracy for me

lahalane

I never know anything about any of these votes because it's not something that interests me. I don't complain about any of the issues either so I don't consider myself hypocritical in that respect. Some people try to tell me to vote but I don't see the point. If I don't know what's going on then my vote isn't going to be of any value. If I listen to somebody else telling me to vote Yes or No then I'm basically just giving them two votes.

Obviously I could read up about what the vote is about and then make a proper choice but I just couldn't be arsed. Politics is boring to me.

hmmm

lahalane wrote: »

I never know anything about any of these votes because it's not something that interests me.

I don't want to sound like I'm giving out, but this stuff is important. Not the Seanad vote itself, but voting is important. We take for granted that we live in a democracy, and we give out about how crap it is, but it could be an awful lot worse - just look at the billions around the world who get no say on their leaders or constitutions.

You should take the time to educate yourself on this stuff if you want to live in a democracy and enjoy the benefits that comes with it. No-one else is going to do it for you.

RayM

I momentarily got really confused between the two ballot papers. I intended to vote "no" in one and "yes" in the other. I'm not 100% sure that I did it the right way around. Oh well, my old primary school was the polling centre, so at least I got a chance to stroll around the corridors, marvelling at how tiny the place now looks.

lahalane

hmmm wrote: »

I don't want to sound like I'm giving out, but this stuff is important. Not the Seanad vote itself, but voting is important. We take for granted that we live in a democracy, and we give out about how crap it is, but it could be an awful lot worse - just look at the billions around the world who get no say on their leaders or constitutions.

You should take the time to educate yourself on this stuff if you want to live in a democracy and enjoy the benefits that comes with it. No-one else is going to do it for you.

It's very hard to educate yourself on something you have no interest in though. That's why I failed Ag. Science in the Leaving Cert.

I know I'm luckier than most that I have the right to vote and that I live in such a great country but I'm quite selfish. I only care about my own well being and the well being of the people I care for. It might sound wrong but there's lots of worse people in the world so I'm okay with it.

I'll trust the rest of the country to vote for the right thing. You can do it guys!!