Sir, – It is dismaying that people who have registered to vote in the last eight months may not be on the electoral register for the general election.
The new register is not set to be published until February 15th. Voters may need to join the supplemental register and would be advised to contact the franchise section of their local authority to make sure they can vote.
Ireland urgently needs an electoral commission for many reasons including to oversee the electoral register.
It has been 14 years since the Commission on Electronic Voting called for its establishment and successive governments have failed to act. This needs to be a priority for the next Dáil and Seanad.
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Worse again, anyone who registered to vote for Seanad elections after June 1st, 2019, will not be eligible to vote in this year’s Seanad elections as they will take place before the new register is published.
This really is a shambles and urgently needs to be reformed. Ensuring citizens can easily participate in our democracy should be a priority for all public representatives. – Yours, etc,
LAURA HARMON,
Stoneybatter,
Dublin 7.