Received voting card but not citizen

Xcellor

I received a card telling me where to vote in the up coming referendum...

It tells me to bring form of ID etc etc the issue is im not an Irish citizen so I don't believe I am entitled to vote. If I showed up with a valid form of ID would they let me vote?

echo beach

I'm sure they would, unless you came with the passport of another country the polling staff have no way of knowing there is an error on the register. However if you KNOW you aren't entitled to vote then you are committing an offence. The fact that you are almost certain to 'get away with it' doesn't make it right, any more than it would be right for a person whose name is registered in two different places to vote twice.

Xcellor

echo beach wrote: »

I'm sure they would, unless you came with the passport of another country the polling staff have no way of knowing there is an error on the register. However if you KNOW you aren't entitled to vote then you are committing an offence. The fact that you are almost certain to 'get away with it' doesn't make it right, any more than it would be right for a person whose name is registered in two different places to vote twice.

I'm not planning on voting but if I got sent a polling card and I'm not Irish how many others have. What controls this?

I am allowed to vote in general elections and local elections as is any other resident I just think its crazy that something as important as the right to vote is not controlled better..

echo beach

Xcellor wrote: »

I am allowed to vote in general elections and local elections as is any other resident I just think its crazy that something as important as the right to vote is not controlled better..

I agree. I know an Irish citizen, born in NI and living in the Republic, who was refused a vote in the presidential election, despite going to the polling booth with her passport. The returning officer was very sympathetic, even contacting her superior to ensure she was correct, but couldn't allow her to vote when the register was inaccurate.
It is the responsibility of every individual to ensure they are on the register and their status is recorded correctly but the oversight is poor. Such an important part of our democracy is given a low priority and in many areas the staff assigned to the role have other duties and lack the resources and expertise to keep the register up to date.

Alun

I don't know about other areas, but here in Bray I get someone from Wicklow CC quite regularly (possibly at least once a year IIRC) coming around checking to see if the people registered to vote at this address are still living here and what their status is. You can also easily check your status online and get it amended if necessary at www.checktheregister.ie. I'm not sure what else they can do to be honest.

echo beach

Alun wrote: »

I don't know about other areas, but here in Bray I get someone from Wicklow CC quite regularly (possibly at least once a year IIRC) coming around checking to see if the people registered to vote at this address are still living here and what their status is.

When I lived in a large town, many years ago, that was the case and if you weren't in they left a card to fill in however since moving to a rural area nobody has ever checked. Political parties used to use 'local knowledge' to keep the register up to date, ensuring their supporters were included and their opponents were deleted but people are so much more mobile now that it is no longer possible for individuals to know everybody in their area.
It would be very easy to register at multiple addresses. Maybe everybody is very honest or maybe very few people care enough to try to foil the system but it is open to both abuse and error. It would be difficult to have a perfect system but at the very least PPS numbers should be used to ensure there isn't duplication.

Happened to a British colleague in work too.