environ.ie Register of Electors : Department Of The Environment Ireland

Organisation : Department of the Environment
Facility : Register of Electors
Country : Ireland

Download Form Here : https://www.electionin.org/uploads/91-appforms_RFA_English_Form.pdf
Register Here : http://www.checktheregister.ie/PublicPages/Default.aspx?uiLang=
Home Page : environ.ie

Register of Electors :
In order to be able to vote at an election or referendum, a person’s name must be entered on the register of electors for the locality in which the elector ordinarily resides. Registration authorities (county and city councils) are required by law to prepare and publish a register of electors every year. The register comes into force on 15th February and is used at each election and referendum held in the succeeding 12 months.

Further information is available in the information leaflet Register of Electors (pdf, 177kb) (also available in a number of languages on the right hand side of your screen) or on the citizens information website (external link).

Check Online Register of Electors :
You can check if you are registered by going to the Check the Register website (external link)

Information for Voters with Disabilities :
There are a variety of special arrangements in place to assist those with certain disabilities to exercise their right to vote. These include:
** voting at an alternative polling station if the local station is inaccessible
** postal voting
** assistance in voting at the polling station by a companion or the presiding officer
** vote at a hospital, nursing home or similar institution if you reside there and cannot go to polling station

Ireland’s PR-STV Electoral System :
Voting at Presidential, Dáil, Seanad, European and local elections is by secret ballot on the principle of proportional representation in multi seat constituencies (Ireland is a single constituency at a Presidential election), each voter having a single transferable vote. Further information is available in the information leaflet – Guide to Ireland’s PR-STV System (pdf, 99kb).

Contact Details :
Franchise Section,
Department of the Environment, Community & Local Government,
Room 1.67
Custom House
Dublin 1.

Telephone: +353 (0)1 888 2424
Locall:1890 202021
(Note that the rates charged for the use of 1890(LoCall) numbers may vary among different service providers)
Fax: +353 (0)1 888 2690

Background :
The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government is responsible for the various legislative codes dealing with the registration of electors and the conduct of elections and referendums. This involves an ongoing review of electoral law, review of constituencies and local electoral areas, the provision of information and advice to registration authorities, returning officers and the general public together with the publication of election results. Please note that the information leaflets available in PDF format at the right-hand side of the screen under Publications and Documents are intended as a practical guide and are not a definitive interpretation of electoral law

Referendums – 22 May 2015 :
Supplement closing date for Postal & Special Voters – Saturday 25 April 2015; Supplement to Register closing date – Tuesday 5 May 2015

Guide to Ireland’s PR-STV Electoral System :
1. Overview :
Voting at Presidential, Dáil, Seanad, European and local elections is by secret ballot on the principle of proportional representation in multi-seat constituencies (Ireland is a single constituency at a Presidential election), each elector having a single transferable vote.

2. Voting is straightforward :
** You vote for candidates in order of preference. You mark the ballot paper by putting 1 opposite the name of your first choice candidate and, if you wish, 2 opposite the name of your second choice and so on.
– What you are saying is: “I want to vote for candidate A. If the situation arises where A does not need my vote because he/she has been elected or excluded from the count, I want my vote to go to candidate B.” And so on.
** This system gives you a wide degree of choice. You can choose between candidates of different parties or non-party candidates and you can order your preferences, as you wish.
** Only one of the preferences in your vote is active at a time. The vote stays with your first preference candidate unless and until he/she does not need it any more (either because he/she has been elected or excluded from the count). If your vote is transferred, it passes to your next highest preference for a candidate still in the running. Your vote could transfer a number of times at the same election to your lower preference candidates.

3. The count is more complex. It is divided into a number of stages.
I. Opening the ballot boxes :
Each ballot box is opened separately and the ballot papers in each box are counted and compared with the total number of ballot papers issued for that box – this is done to check that ballot papers have not been put into or taken out of the box since the poll closed. The number of ballot papers in each box are added together to determine the total poll.
Individual ballot papers are not examined at this stage but the “tallymen” note the first preference on each ballot paper as it is counted.

II. First Count :
All the ballot papers are mixed and then sorted according to first preferences, setting aside the invalid papers. The quota is then calculated. This is the minimum number of valid votes each successful candidate must get to be elected. The quota is calculated as the minimum number of votes, which will fill the seats available and no more. For example, in a three-seat constituency, the quota is a quarter of the valid votes, plus one – only three candidates can get this number of votes. In a four-seater, the quota is a fifth of the valid votes, plus one, and so on. The formula for calculating the quota is[
divide the valid votes by the number of seats plus one, ignore any fraction and add one. As an example, if there are 1,000 valid votes and 4 seats, the quota is calculated as follows
1,000 + 1 = 201
4 + 1
This is the lowest number of votes which four candidates can obtain (804) but five cannot (1,005).
Any candidate whose first preferences equal or exceed the quota is deemed elected.
The first count is generally the only time the votes of all candidates are examined and sorted.
The second and subsequent counts at a PR-STV election involve either the distribution of the surplus of an elected candidate or exclusion of the lowest candidate(s) and distribution of his/her/their votes.