Estimates of numbers unable to vote?

bertisevil

Just wondering has anyone any idea what the numbers are that, turned up to the polls yesterday attempting to vote, to then find that they had been removed from the register of the electorate.

At the moment I personally know 8 people that weren't able to vote because of this. This includes myself, and o yeah my flatmate recieved 2 polling cards, a lot of people are very angry here over this.

So anybody any idea on numbers? or have the same experience?

btw I'm in Limerick City Corporations administrative area

bert

doonothing

seriously?!
now that is messed up. if you know 8 in your personal circle,the numbers on the whole must be fairly sizable.
and that doesnt even include students unable to due to exams etc
and im sure there's other groups too who found the timing and system left them out of the loop...
absolutely dreadful

White Knight

I understand it is frustrating and I would be upset at an administrative error preventing me to exercise my right to vote but....

A new Register is compiled each year and individuals should check and ensure that their details remain on the Register each year. You can check the Register in any Local Authority office, Garda Station, Post office or library in the county. You can also check easily online. :rolleyes:

bertisevil

A new Register is compiled each year and individuals should check and ensure that their details remain on the Register each year. You can check the Register in any Local Authority office, Garda Station, Post office or library in the county. You can also check easily online.

Indeed, I realize this is something that should have been done, and I shall certainly be contacting my Local Authority for an explanation of why even a cursory letter detailing removal after 10 years of been registered wasn't sent (though I realise it is my responsibility to ensure my name is maintained on the list).

I'm mainly just curious now though as to the numbers that were involved here.

Lennoxschips

Sorry to harp on about this, but this is how it happens in Holland:

- If you are eligible to vote in an election and registered as a resident at the county hall (which you have to do to legally live in a town), you will be sent a voting card, whether you want one or not. There is no voting register. Turnout in Holland is consistently over 80%.

humanji

Got this from BreakingNews.ie

BreakingNews.ie wrote:

Yesterday's election was reportedly marred by widespread problems relating to the electoral register.

Reports this morning say thousands of voters encountered serious difficulties in casting their vote at polling stations in several parts of the country.

Many found that their names were no longer on the register, while others were sent to the wrong polling station or given the wrong card number.

The problems are believed to have been caused by the Government's €12m campaign to clean up the register.

The Green Party is already calling for a formal investigation into the way the clean-up was handled, but the Department of the Environment says it has received no reports of any voting difficulties.

Granted, it may be a bit of an exageration, but if it's true, there's a hell of a problem.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

gandalf

It would be interesting if you could get a profile of those dropped off the register, if they were more likely to vote for the Government parties or against them.

Of course it is there own fault at the end of the day for not checking the register, especially with all the publicity that surrounded this cleanup.

That system in Holland seems logical and makes sense, we should link up voting registry with your PPS number.

Bluefoam

It wouldn't surprise me if the majortity of those dropped from the electoral register were young and possibly living in the commuter belts.

The words George Bush & Florida spring to mind...

humanji

Well aparently it's not all the fault of the voters. Talking to a guy I work with not too long ago. He had checked that he was registered, yet was told hes wasn't when he got to the poll.

Maybe Bertie learned a thing or two from his meetings with Bush

edit: Damn, Bluefoam, you beat me to it

Trampas

doonothing wrote:

and that doesnt even include students unable to due to exams etc

Even with exams the students should be still able to vote as exam doesn't go on from 7.30am to 10pm.

If you say well they are register down in county X and study in county Y then they should have transferred to county Y.

No excuses for them

seamus

There were people on the radio claiming it was a conspiracy because they had voted for Sinn Fein last time, and now they were removed from the register. Obviously the concept of secret ballot is lost on them.

Bluefoam

Trampas wrote:

Even with exams the students should be still able to vote as exam doesn't go on from 7.30am to 10pm.

If you say well they are register down in county X and study in county Y then they should have transferred to county Y.

No excuses for them

Don't be silly, you should vote in your main residence and the area where you intend to reside in the coming years.

Where you live as a student is only temporary even on a weekly basis for most.

BTW in most colleges the day finishes at 5.00/5.30 and as fantastic as the public transport system FF have provided us, I think it would be very difficult for many to get to their local polling stations by 10.30 & get back to college the following morning with enough time to study for todays exams.

is_that_so

Bluefoam wrote:

Don't be silly, you should vote in your main residence and the area where you intend to reside in the coming years.

Where you live as a student is only temporary even on a weekly basis for most.

BTW in most colleges the day finishes at 5.00/5.30 and as fantastic as the public transport system FF have provided us, I think it would be very difficult for many to get to their local polling stations by 10.30 & get back to college the following morning with enough time to study for todays exams.

The Green candidate in Louth was offering a free bus service to bring people up and down .

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

gandalf

seamus wrote:

There were people on the radio claiming it was a conspiracy because they had voted for Sinn Fein last time, and now they were removed from the register. Obviously the concept of secret ballot is lost on them.

Well tbh Seamus if a party has a decent organisation in your local area they should have a good idea what way you would be inclined to vote from canvassing, communication to TD's etc. For example based on the emails I have sent to Brennen, Kitt and O'Donnell in Dublin South they would realise that I am not one of their greatest fans.

On saying that I doubt that there was any organised effort in removing people due to their connections or preference for certain parties. It is more than likely old fashioned incompetence directed from the top down, Dick Roche anyone !!!

It is worrying that people are saying they checked the registry, saw they were listed yet were told otherwise at the polling stations. That would need to be investigated fully if true (of course people may be saying that not to appear stupid as well).

humanji

gandalf wrote:

It is worrying that people are saying they checked the registry, saw they were listed yet were told otherwise at the polling stations. That would need to be investigated fully if true (of course people may be saying that not to appear stupid as well).

Unfortunately stupidity and stubborness go hand in hand, so we may never know the truth

BigAL1234

I also checked the electoral register today on line and found that I was eligible to vote, but at the polling station last night there was no record of me, what is the story with that. If people were refused yesterday they should check on line today. You could get an idea of numbers.

Bluefoam

If you are on the register & were refused a vote you should take a .pdf or print out...

gandalf

BigAL if I were you I'd report that. Maybe an email into the candidate you were going to vote for would be the best bet but also one to your local authority as well.

LostinBlanch

seamus wrote:

There were people on the radio claiming it was a conspiracy because they had voted for Sinn Fein last time, and now they were removed from the register. Obviously the concept of secret ballot is lost on them.

Well anyone can buy a record of who voted in elections and this can be compared to the votes cast per ballot box. So it can be fairly easy to have a good idea of who voted for who.

It's not 100% accurate but it's a lot better than nothing. For example they can look at X amount of people from 5 or 10 streets (or whatever the area is per ballot box) voted at the election and see that there were Y amounts of votes for Sinn Feinn for example. If this was an increase they could look at who voted this time that didn't vote last time, and guestimate from there.

So the ballot may not be as secret as you think. I heard Mary O'Rourke having a laugh about this on the radio, saying that such and such a constituent said she voted for her, but she got no votes on that street!

gurramok

Well, 60 people from a flats complex were initially thrown off the register by DCC http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2007/0525/1179498781487.html

DCC had to setup a supplementary register on the spot to rectify their mistake.

Local authorities should lose the right to maintain a register.

gbh

Are we also counting the number of students who couldn't vote because of Berties shameless stroke of setting election day for a Thursday??

Stark

My name was removed in the register cleanup. But then I was getting two polling cards at that time so it would have made sense. I re-registered last November and had no problems voting yesterday.

gandalf

gbh wrote:

Are we also counting the number of students who couldn't vote because of Berties shameless stroke of setting election day for a Thursday??

In fairness students did have the opportunity to get their votes changed to where they were based.

This of course is separate from the issue of when the election was called. We should be like every other mature european democracy and have our elections over the weekend so people can vote Saturday and Sunday.

coxy123

At least I was not the only one affected...After having completed my supplementary register form and handing it in before the close date(I think it was a RFA2 form), due to the fact that I moved dail constituencies within Co.Limerick I found that I could not vote yesterday at the polling station.

I received my polling card over a week prior to this.

Who is responsible for this screw-up?

Anyone else affected in this way?

lucernarian

gandalf wrote:

It would be interesting if you could get a profile of those dropped off the register, if they were more likely to vote for the Government parties or against them.

Of course it is there own fault at the end of the day for not checking the register, especially with all the publicity that surrounded this cleanup.

That system in Holland seems logical and makes sense, we should link up voting registry with your PPS number.

True enough... The electoral register is not cleaned up properly, as the govt. know well. They may yet have to introduce something like this to solve the problem for once and for all.

Civilian_Target

According to checktheregister.ie, I was on the register twice, in two different constituencies. Sadly I couldn't vote because I live in London and didn't register quick enough to postal vote.