Record levels of spoiled votes during the Locals & European election tells us we must better empower voters – Ardagh

Fianna Fáil Seanad Group Leader and Dublin South Central General Election candidate, Senator Catherine Ardagh, has said that establishing a commission to prepare and facilitate elections will better support voters.

The Crumlin based Senator is sponsoring the Electoral Amendment (Rolling Registration of Voters) Bill 2019 in order to set up a rolling vote register and provide for the establishment of an Electoral Commission.

This Electoral Commission would, at the discretion of the Minister, take on additional functions with regard to the holding of elections, such as advising the Government on electoral reform and improving voter participation and education.

Speaking as election counts are wrapping up nationwide, Senator Ardagh said, “In some wards and constituencies, it would appear as though there were high levels of confusion among voters about how to accurately cast a ballot. There were more than 1,000 votes in some areas that were discounted due to uncertainty or mixing preferences on the two election ballots.

“By not making people aware of the impacts of the Kiely judgment, the number of spoiled votes in the European elections more than tripled since the last Local and European election in 2014. Such a high number of spoiled votes potentially reduces confidence and trust in the whole election process.

“Some 4% of voters in Dublin and thousands of others around the country will have been under the impression their vote was counted but in fact it was disallowed because of the failure to educate voters on the correct way to cast a vote. Voter turnout is also far below where it should be, and this is particularly true in certain parts of the country. In parts of Dublin, turnout was barely over 10%. We need to move to a rolling electoral register to help more people register to vote.

“Fianna Fáil are committed to pushing for the establishment of an Electoral Commission and I am pleased to sponsor this bill to empower voters and strengthen the democratic process in Ireland.”