Fair wind or foul? The question in everyone’s mind tomorrow morning when they don cap and cape to vote in the 25th referendum on the Irish Constitution since it was approved in 1937.
According to Met Éireann, if you are a fair weather-voter, the afternoon will be the best time as tomorrow morning is to be wet and windy with gusts of over 50 mph.
In the afternoon, it says, conditions will improve, but there will still be scattered showers and wind.
Polling stations across the country will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. so voters can benefit from the few sunny spells that are also forecasted for the afternoon and early evening.
Every Irish citizen in the country tomorrow, who has registered, is entitled to vote. At the close of the register of voters on February 15th last, that included 2,923,918 people.
The poll at the Referendum will be taken in the 41 Dáil constituencies. Responsibility for the conduct of the referendum in constituencies, including the provision of polling stations and the employment of staff, is the responsibility of each local Returning Officer in each area.
Each elector qualified to vote in tomorrow’s referendum should, by now, have been sent a document containing the formal statement prescribed by the Oireachtas regarding the subject matter of the referendum.
In general, electors vote in person at their local polling station. The polling information card sent to each elector informs them of their number on the register, the date of the poll and the location of their polling station.
Voters with a physical illness or physical disability resident in a hospital, nursing home or similar institution who are included in the special voters list may vote at their hospital, nursing home by means of ballot papers
Postal voting has been made available to people on the postal voters list, namely whole-time members of the Defence Forces, Garda, civil servants (and their spouses) attached to diplomatic missions.
The Constitution has been amended following a referendum on 17 occasions. A further five proposals to amend the Constitution were rejected by the electorate, while three referenda, - the Death Penalty, the International Criminal Court, and the Nice Treaty - voted on in 2001 are the subject of a referendum petition.