New referendum on dispora voting due

Nigel Fairservice

It's an interesting one. Ireland has many citizens who acquired Irish citizenship through Foreign Birth Registration and may not know much about the political landscape here in Ireland. They may never have even been to Ireland. This would be the case with many of the children of my first cousins abroad. You'll also have Irish citizens abroad who spent many years living in Ireland and would keep up with political events back home and may want a continued say in things. You probably can't turn around and tell the recent emigrant that it is ok for them to have a vote but deny a vote to 30 year old Australian who has Irish citizenship through a grandparent. I lived abroad for a few years and missed a presidential election. I watched one or two of the debates on the RTE player but it didn't really bother me to miss the election.

is_that_so

Given the shoddy quality of some of the recent Presidential candidates, the question of adding a large non-resident block who could potentially swing an election on their own will be part of the campaign. It will be important to identify just how many of these potential voters there could be. That 70m figure will definitely see it fail. TBH this sounds like a proposal that will be greeted with a fair level of indifference and referendum voters could opt for option C if they are unpersuaded, that of maintaining the status quo.

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118886742#Comment_118886742

I deliberately reversed it to make a point. have you received a bang on the head recently?

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118886702#Comment_118886702

so every third or fourth generation irish passport holder should have a say in how the country is ran?

Firminos

I dont necessarily agree with the tax element. But i do agree you should live here

Firminos

To vote that is

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118886755#Comment_118886755

the irish abroad have no right to vote in irish elections but you want that to be the case.

listermint

Ah I'm against giving every passport holder residing abroad a vote on something that won't impact them so I'm for irexit.

This thread has taken a turn for the ridiculous.

I wouldn't expect to vote in an election abroad I'm actually unsure why the posters on this thread would. You don't live here. You don't want to live here. You chose to leave most likely for your personal economic situation not out of some grand standing save the country from your dole . The thread is off the wall.

astrofool

We should let the whole world vote for our president, the position matters little in the grand scheme of things. (That's a bit facetious but representation via paying tax doesn't really apply in this case in the same way voting for TDs, MEPs and councillors would).

Firminos

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118887065#Comment_118887065

Yeah theres posters saying that people who dont agree are self absorbed comparing it to the bull mccabe attitude. It would be extremely self absorbed to vote in elections of a country when you dont live there

is_that_so

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118887034#Comment_118887034

It's proposed for the presidential election, nothing else. Our president just signs the laws and is otherwise a diplomat. They don't run the country.

Firminos

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118887082#Comment_118887082

Why should they get a vote?

Firminos

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118887031#Comment_118887031

Here here

is_that_so

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118887087#Comment_118887087

That's what the referendum is for. It should be explained once we see one proposed and then people can make up their own minds.

Firminos

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118887095#Comment_118887095

Ah yeah fair, im not against a referendum for it

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118887082#Comment_118887082

why should a third or fourth generation irish passport holder have a say in that?

Firminos

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118887112#Comment_118887112

Here here

[Deleted User]

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118886742#Comment_118886742

It's a good point actually.

I might be swayed by a time limit of 5 years after you leave but no longer. People gone 5+ years tend to stay gone long term

You should not have influence on a country you don't live in and where your choice affects millions but not you

is_that_so

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118887112#Comment_118887112

I don't know why you imagine I know more about this proposal than you. It's just a newspaper article for now. Presumably all will be revealed in due course and then we can vote on it. Incidentally there have been a fair number of referenda that have failed as they tried to go through the Dail or the people just rejected them. This one has a low turnout written all over it so one would assume there would be more than one to vote on at the same time.

DoctorEdgeWild

I'm an emigrant. Moved to England 11 years ago. I don't think I should have the right to vote in Ireland anymore. Doesn't seem fair to me that I get a say in your lives.

osarusan

The article says 'Irish-born' people rather than the whole diaspora, which is a much smaller group of people.

I'm not so sure about the 'Irish-born' part either, as that would exclude citizens born abroad who might have moved here as young children and lived here ever since.

I can see myself being in favour of something along the lines of 'Irish citizens being allowed to vote for a period of X years after leaving Ireland', but that would need to be a pretty short period of time for me to be in favour.

Yurt2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118887039#Comment_118887039

Erm, yes, that would be my stance.

Any developed first world democracy I can think of has overseas voting of some sort or another for citizens who were on the electoral register. Ireland is a complete outlier in that respect.

EDDIT: In fact, I have voted when I was resident abroad. When I was living abroad for a 3 year stretch, one of my visits home coincided with a general election. I took my polling card and swung by the polling station.

Would you have snatched the polling card out of my hand? Out of my cold dead hands says I.

Tens of thousands resident abroad returned to Ireland to vote for the 8th amendment referendum. Would you have been the one to tell them "f*ck off you don't live here" when they landed at Dublin / Shannon / Cork Airport?

[Deleted User]

It's the presidential election, so doesn't really have any affect on the population. It's not government.

On a personal level, I was seconded overseas and had no way to vote. In 2018 in particular, I flew home for one referendum, but couldn't come back the same year for a presidential election. I don't see why my rights should be restricted because I was temporarily working overseas.

[Deleted User]

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118887065#Comment_118887065

Not everyone overseas chooses to leave. There are many people seconded through work, temporarily.

Yurt2

Interestingly, allowing for overseas voting most likely doesn't require a constitutional change at all, only a legislative one.

Currently, all one has to do is be on the register of electors. Technically ordinarily resident in Ireland the year before the register comes into force, however we know this is not followed and the register is just updated year-on-year.

A simple legislative change to allow for an amendment to the rules for the electoral register and a statutory instrument from a minister to facilitate overseas voting and presto bingo, we have overseas voting.

KaneToad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058240463/new-referendum-on-dispora-voting-due

I don't think it's a good idea. I wouldn't vote for it. I agree with the sentiment that you should be here living under the 'regime' that you voted for.

Multipass

So all those Americans who had an Irish granny could vote? no thanks.

Yurt2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118887072#Comment_118887072

Every single person from an EU citizen country other than Ireland who have the right to vote in some form another overseas must be self absorbed then. Ridiculous post.

I actually had a conversation with a Frenchman about this. He was skipping out of work early to vote in the local French consulate. He couldn't believe that Ireland didn't allow overseas voting.

What a self absorbed Frenchman. Typical.

Fandymo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058240463/new-referendum-on-dispora-voting-due

If you don't have to live with the consequences of your vote, you shouldn't have a vote.

plodder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118886833#Comment_118886833

What about like the UK where you can vote for up to 15 years after you leave, but you would have had to have the right to vote prior to leaving? That seems reasonable to me. Three election cycles, after which it's presumed you no longer have a close enough connection for voting.

I think US citizens can continue to vote from abroad in federal elections without a time limit, but they are also liable to US taxes. So, there's a quid pro quo there, which people might not want.