Explaining the need for new electoral reform laws, Fianna Fáil TD Jim O’Callaghan told the Dáil last month that “it is not simply to try to reformulate or represent our electoral laws, but to defend our democracy”. The Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien has echoed this and said that a time when democracy is under pressure across the globe, there is an onus now to strengthen our electoral processes at home.
Electoral reform has been promised by every Government for more than a decade, but time and again the promises have fallen by the wayside. A new Electoral Reform Bill - which is currently progressing through the Oireachtas - has promised fundamental change from how the country registers to vote, how political parties are run and even possibly how campaigns are conducted. From political advertising to the electoral register, here are the biggest changes that will be ushered in when the legislation passes, potentially as early as the Dáil summer recess.
Voters
The whole process of registering to vote will be simplified, with new forms and an online option for registration. Under the new system, 16 and 17 year olds will be pre-registered and then included on the main register when they turn 18. A new rolling, or continuously updated, electoral register will be introduced. PPS numbers will be used to cross check information to ensure the accuracy of the data. A single authority will manage a shared database of all local authority data.
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New measures will also allow for anonymous registration where a person’s safety may be compromised by publication of their details. This could apply to a victim of domestic violence, for example.
There will also be arrangements for homeless people to vote. Finally, changes will be made to postal voting provisions to broaden the definition of illness and disability to include those with mental health difficulties.
Political Parties
The responsibility for the oversight and maintenance of the Register of Political Parties will be transferred from the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission to a new Electoral Commission.
The leader of each political party will have to send a written statement to the Standards in Public Office Commission confirming that all donations to the party from outside the State, including all contributions, whether in cash or in kind, have been declared.
Under the new plans, political parties will have to make an annual declaration about the properties they own. This could impact most significantly on Sinn Féin. The Irish Times reported in 2020 that Sinn Féin owns up to 50 properties in constituencies around Ireland. At the time, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil both said they owned a small number of properties.
In terms of the make-up of the Dáil, there will between 169 and 179 TDs. There are currently 160 TDs. In relation to constituency boundaries, the new Electoral Commission will review and report on Dáil and European Parliament constituencies.
Political Advertising
Ireland will be one of the first European countries to regulate online political advertising through such a Bill. Online political ads will have to be clearly labelled as “political” and be accompanied by a transparency notice. The transparency notice will detail the name, postal address, email address and website address of the buyer of the ad. The advertiser will also have to confirm whether there has been any micro-targeting and, if so, how this was done.
There will also be measures around “lookalike” advertising where ads are delivered to people who look and act like an advertiser’s target audience. Under the Electoral Reform Bill 2022, the use of such “lookalike” target ads will have to be disclosed as well the amount paid and the number of days the ad will be on the platform. The buyer will also have to reveal the estimated size of the audience the ad will reach and the number of times it has been viewed by users.
There will also be measures aimed at verifying the identity and the address of the buyers of online political advertisements. Where an online platform cannot verify the identity and address of the buyer of an online political advertisement, it will not be allowed to accept or display the ad.
Online political ads will also not be allowed in Ireland where they are paid for by a person resident at an address outside the State, except in certain circumstances.
A new Electoral Commission
For more than a decade, multiple Governments have promised a new Electoral Commission. The legislation promises to create such an independent body which will initially have seven members. These will include a chairperson, who is a serving or retired senior court judge nominated by the Chief Justice, two ex officio members (the Clerk of the Dáil and the Ombudsman) and four ordinary members.
Ordinary members will serve a maximum of four years, with the possibility of serving two terms. The commission will oversee the new electoral register, conduct research on electoral policy, promote public awareness, explain referendums, maintain the register of political parties and review the way future electoral events are carried out.
Campaigning
Politicians have submitted more than 100 amendments to the Bill calling for a number of changes, and some of these relate to what happens during the campaigning period before an election. Not all will be accepted by the Government.
A group of Sinn Féin TDs want to see the Irish language given more prominence in the Commission’s work. Among their amendments is one that says 20 per cent of ordinary members appointed to the new Electoral Commission should be competent in the Irish language.
Aengus Ó Snodaigh told last night’s committee meeting that the chairperson of the new Commission should also have competency in Irish and that bringing such measures would set an example for other State agencies.
Minister of State Malcolm Noonan said he appreciated the rationale for the Sinn Féin amendment but the Government does not want to be overly restrictive on the matter. He said the amendment would not be accepted but that the Bill provides for Irish language skills to be a desirable attribute when recruiting Commission members.
Separately, the role of disinformation in an election campaign is also being closely examined as the Bill makes its way through the Oireachtas. The Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien has asked the Attorney General to prepare proposals and this could see the Electoral Commission being given a function in this regard.
