Democratic elections in Ireland?

mdebets

I'm just back from my first elections in Ireland and I must say I'm really shocked, no wonder Ireland is in such a mess if the polling station where I voted is anything to go by.

When I went in to collect my ballot papers, i showed them my German passport as identification and was handed 3 ballot papers (local, Europe and by-election). When I asked them why I did get a ballot paper for the by-election, they just shrugged and it took them some time to understand that I'm not actually allowed to vote in Dail elections.
The next shock was the 'voting boots'. They were open to the back, where everyone was passing by, so everyone could see what you were voting. Looked really like something I would have expected in a banana republic, but not in a democratic country.

When I finally found a boot that was in a corner and started voting, the guy who gave me the ballot papers came after me, telling me that I'm not allowed to vote in the European elections. No one in the polling station could tell me why, all they said there is a L beside your name, so you can't vote in the European election. I finally got a central phone number, who could explain that I should have gotten a letter in last November, which I should have send back to them, to confirm my European status. Needles to say, I never got the letter (thank you An Post) and couldn't vote in the European election.

So they give ballot papers to everyone and only the ones who complain get taken the wrong ones off them.
Secret ballots are also not practiced here, instead you can just pass by the voting boots and look what everyone is voting.

[/rant off]

Breezer

I can't argue with anything you've said. The amount of stories like yours that I've heard is getting ridiculous at this stage, and there doesn't seem to be any improvement between elections.

Tazzle

I was asked if I'd like to vote on a bench next to the polling officers because all booths were full. No, I'll wait thanks....

Sully

tbh.

meglome

I have to say I was underwhelmed by my local polling station too. Some of the 'booths' looked like they were held together with selotape and string.

jonsnow

At my polling station ( a primary school) the two booths in the room were occupied.The woman who handed me my ballot gestured to a childs desk in the middle of the room and said "you can just do it their if you want".Which I duly did because I don,t care who sees my vote.But it does show a lack of respect for the sanctity of the secret ballot.
In fairness though other years in the same place different people have been very professional and stringent.I think a lot of it comes down to whoevers running it on the day.I had two bored girls in their twenties who couldn,t give a toss.

Taxipete29

Not knowing what ballots people should be getting is inexcusible and is a problem which needs to be addressed immediatly.

In do not however see the problem with the way polling stations are laid out. There is no problem with voters being intimidated and tbh most people could care less who some else votes for. If there was a specific problem with someone trying to see who people were voting for, there is a guard on duty who im sure would be more than happy to deal with the situation. Would give him something to do as I imagine its a pretty boring duty.

Matt Simis

There was only 3 booths where I voted today, so my sister and I were told we can vote in the corner of the classroom if we please. And to be honest, I liked the idea of the flexibility. Sure, someone could sneak around behind me and see me putting numbers in boxes, but why would I care? No one else was "hanging" around, no one was interested in anyone elses votes and I for one prefer this not getting stuck up on rules, relaxed approach. Everyone was calm, everyone voted and no one was hiding in the corner spying on friends while they voted themselves. I was even joking with the girls who hand out the ballot papers as I was inadvertently queue skipping in my zeal to vote.

Personally, this laid back attitude in a serious situation is whats endearing about this country (I am Irish btw). I like the fact we dont need flashy or intimidating enclosed capsules and heavy police presence to exercise this right. You shouldnt want that, anywhere. Enjoy it while we have it.

AnCatDubh

The issue of having a (L) after your name is an issue that every eligible voter has responsibility to ensure is correct and to be honest it is so easy now in this age of the interweb thingymabob that it is remiss of people to not do it.

This takes about half a minute to complete. Twice a year (November and February) you should log on to checktheregister.ie select your local authority and search for your voter record. If you do this you will see your designation (L letter in the above case) and see a table which describes what you are entitled to vote in.

It reads Category, Local, European Elections, Dáil Elections, Referendum or Presidential Election and looks like this;

Resident Irish citizens (P)* YES YES YES YES
Resident British citizens (D)* YES YES YES NO
Resident EU citizens (E)* YES YES NO NO
Resident Non-EU citizens (L)* YES NO NO NO

For L you are entitled to vote in local but nothing else.

Why November and February ? Because that is when amendments are made to the voting register. In an ideal world you would have had an 'E' but if you had checked you would have noticed that it had become 'L' and you could have had it rectified.

Also, checktheregister a couple of weeks before polling just to make sure you haven't been removed or anything. Although unlikely it can happen. At that stage you can still be included on the supplementary register and vote as per your entitlement. However on polling day regardless of what passport, birth certificate, etc., that you have with you to prove your bona fides - you can't be allowed to vote as you won't be on the formal register as per the statutes of the land.

It is every eligible voters duty to ensure that they are accurately on the register every year.

Yes, if you don't check it then you may get away without any problem happening for years but you may find out of the blue that you are removed for something as simple as not being home when the register is being updated and someone knocks on your door for the second time. Again, in the perfect world it shouldn't happen but the process is far from perfect.

The rest of the issues you encountered appears to be shoddy practice by the polling station staff and poor organisation of facilities.

Rb

I wasn't too impressed by what I was met with when obtaining my ballots this evening;

A very, very old man who was hard of hearing and couldn't even read the details off my driving licence.

Thankfully most of those working at the polls were young/quick so I'd imagine the amount of issues (in that centre anyway) will be minimal.