Dissertation finished as part of Masters in Public Policy in DCU. My summary of what's wrong with the Electoral Register, the voter registration process, and my suggestions on how to resolve these issues.

A thread (1 of 10)

The Registration process is outdated, long and complex, leaving many to not bother registering or completing the process incorrectly. The register under-represents younger people, people from lower socio-economic backgrounds and migrants. Online registration should be an option.

Checking if you are registered is not easy, with http://checktheregister.ie  being practically unusable.

A significant number of people become unknowingly de-registered every year, usually finding out when going to vote at the polling station on polling day.

Local Authorities currently compile the Register, but are under-resourced and unable to compile it to a high standard, giving their priority to their wide array of other tasks and responsibilities. Practices and accuracy vary widely among the 31 Local Authorities.

A 'new' register is compiled each year, coming into force on Feb 15th. This created the absurd situation of anyone who had registered in the 2nd half of 2019 having to register again to vote in GE on Feb 8th. Annual registration should be replaced by a rolling year-long register.

Our registration is based on household registration rather than individual. This is not practical for a mobile population that lives in new housing/accommodation types. Individual Registration should use PPS numbers and other identifiers to resolve the issue of duplications.

The Electoral Register itself is extremely inaccurate, including some electors multiple times, deceased electors, and those who've lived abroad for years. An inflated Register leads to many problems, from inaccurate turnout figures to the threat of fraud through multiple voting.

An Electoral Commission should be finally set up and given responsibility for compiling the Electoral Register. This could have many other functions too, as has proved successful in other jurisdictions. An Electoral Commission has been on the agenda for years, called for by...

..academics, included in political party manifestos/Programmes for Government and recommended by Multiple Oireachtas Committees. The right to vote is the cornerstone of democracy, yet the Register currently includes many who don’t have that right and doesn’t include many who do.

(10) I welcome the commitment to establish an Electoral Commission in the current Programme for Government. I've sent this dissertation to Malcolm Noonan, Junior Minister with responsibility for Electoral Reform. Reform of the Register and the registration process is long overdue