Voting in the General Election

Status
Not open for further replies.
J

jim

Registered User
Messages
835
Does anyone know why, in this day and age, it is not possible to vote in the election online?

I live in Dublin but will have to drive 4 hours to get home to vote. I don't understand why it cannot be done electronically online. If we can have internet banking etc then why not voting?

I think it would also make the whole process including vote counting more efficient and less costly as it would be automated.

Thanks.
 
Unfortunately I won't be in Ireland (normal residence) on polling day. I cannot vote in advance or from abroad but I will be affected by the next Government for the next five years.
 
I think we should hire Bertie as a consultant to look into the matter ... he should have plenty of expertise of the potential pitfalls with electronic voting!
 
jim said:
I think it would also make the whole process including vote counting more efficient and less costly as it would be automated.

Thanks.
Click to expand...


I have been living away for the past five years however, my name is still on the electoral register at home. There must be thousands of others in my situation. Technically emigrants are not allowed to vote though this is not what happened on the gay referendum when Irish people abroad came home in their droves to vote. If online voting became available how would they stop Irish people abroad who are still on the voting register in Ireland from voting?
 
You're correct about the gay vote and the amount of people who voted illegally, yet almost 40% didn't vote at all. In the not too distant past I remember people being quietly deleted from the register if it didn't sit right with certain political people in the community, I wonder does that still happen?
 
I think you'll find it was the equality referendum not the "gay" referendum.

If you've been living in Dublin all that time then register here, it's actually anti-democratic pretending to live somewhere that you don't and creates all sorts of distortions in constituencies.

And voting remotely, on-line will never happen, the chances of chicanery are way too big.
 
moneybox said:
I have been living away for the past five years however, my name is still on the electoral register at home. There must be thousands of others in my situation. Technically emigrants are not allowed to vote though this is not what happened on the gay referendum when Irish people abroad came home in their droves to vote. If online voting became available how would they stop Irish people abroad who are still on the voting register in Ireland from voting?
Click to expand...
If you don't pay your taxes here I don't see why you should be allowed to vote here. We should actively stop Irish citizens who don't live here from voting.
 
Purple said:
If you don't pay your taxes here I don't see why you should be allowed to vote here. We should actively stop Irish citizens who don't live here from voting.
Click to expand...

Purple I am not questioning my right to vote in Ireland, it does not bother me in the slightest. My point was how can it be fair and transparent if online voting ever comes to fruition?
 
Like others, I don't see online voting happening and tbh I have no desire to see it happen. I quite like the suspense with the current system as well as the fact that people should be motivated enough to get out and vote. Jim as others have said, why are you not registered in Dublin? If you still see yourself as being from down the country and have more interest in what is happening there then a 4 hour trip once every 5 years to vote should not really be a cause for complaint. At least this time the election is on a Friday so there really isn't an excuse for anyone in the country to vote if they really are interested in doing so.
 
Purple said:
If you don't pay your taxes here I don't see why you should be allowed to vote here. We should actively stop Irish citizens who don't live here from voting.
Click to expand...

I think Irish people who have emigrated from Ireland to live abroad should be the first to vote through the postal service. We have residents here who do not pay tax either and they can vote. So, why not for our emigrants?
 
For years, I used to have 2 votes. One where I live and one for my parents' home.

I never abused the system. I only voted once - wherever I happened to be on voting night.

Marion
 
Leper said:
I think Irish people who have emigrated from Ireland to live abroad should be the first to vote through the postal service. We have residents here who do not pay tax either and they can vote. So, why not for our emigrants?
Click to expand...

Very well said. Ireland indeed is very much out of step with its voting rights for emigrants. As it's mostly younger people who emigrate I am sure the various political parties might not be too enthusiastic to support this move as younger people are the ones much more likely to vote for change.
 
Páid said:
Unfortunately I won't be in Ireland (normal residence) on polling day. I cannot vote in advance or from abroad but I will be affected by the next Government for the next five years.
Click to expand...

I believe you have until tomorrow to register for a postal vote which you would be entitled to if you are abroad due to your occupation. The vote is cast in a convenient garda station a number of days before ballot day.

I used one many years ago when I was briefly working in a menial job in Dublin and just needed my employer to certify that I would not be given a day off to travel.
 
Leper said:
I think Irish people who have emigrated from Ireland to live abroad should be the first to vote through the postal service. We have residents here who do not pay tax either and they can vote. So, why not for our emigrants?
Click to expand...

The residents who vote here will be subject to the laws made by the politicians they voted for, emigrants will not - which is why they should not be able to vote in general elections.
 
I should change my vote to dublin.
I will be driving home to vote though and i dont mind that really

The only point/question i am making/asking is: why not have electronic voting?

I would suggest that its possibly cheaper to administer than the current manual system and probably more secure and reliable as there is no human manual intervention. It could be audited im sure in a number of ways to give assurance as to its reliability etc.

It would be a lot more convenient for everyone if they could just log in (perhaps with pps number or something) to vote rather than physically going somewhere.

So why is this not a in place?

Im not debating the aspect of immigrants/emmigrants etc voting. I just would like to hear peoples views as to why we cannot vote electronically? We bank and buy stuff and do all sorts of important transactions online. To me voting online seems obvious and simple and would open up the possibility for our people living abroad to vote (if that was deemed aplropriate) .

Why is this not a reality?

I dont accept the arguement that it would be costly to implement. Yes sure it would cost a bob or 2 to put in place but so what?
 
Last edited:
jim said:
I should change my vote to dublin.
I will be driving home to vote though and i dont mind that really

The only point/question i am making/asking is: why not have electronic voting?
Click to expand...

Just get your skates on and apply to be put on the supplementary register for the constituency where you actually live! What's so difficult about that?
Electronic voting is another issue.
 
jdwex dont worry about my voting constituency. The question im asking is re e voting.
 
odyssey06 said:
The residents who vote here will be subject to the laws made by the politicians they voted for, emigrants will not - which is why they should not be able to vote in general elections.
Click to expand...

As per my link above 123 other countries have provisions in place for their citizens who live abroad to vote so what's so special about Ireland that they can't do the same?

Hundreds of thousands of us were forced to emigrate throughout our most recent recession, we didn't all go as Noonan put it for 'lifestyle' reasons. We will be returning to resume the lives we left behind as the economy contiues to improve, its not that we gone forever. So why should we be denied to vote on things that matter or that will impact us on our return?

Sorry OP I am straying off topic from your question, electronic voting was a costly fiasco for Ireland, google it and you will see it will be many many years before the topic will ever resurface again.
 
Last edited:
I feel like im banging my head off the wall here.

I havent yet heard any reasonable logical arguement for why we dont have e voting!

It seems to make sense to me on every level to have it.

I dont accept that we shouldnt have it based on some fek up yrs ago re those silly voting machine! How costly was that fiasco? How much does the current system cost? How much would a simple website where one logs in amd votes cost? I suspect none of us can accurately answer these questions except we can speculate etc.

I maintain it would be cheaper and more efficient and more convenient more secure and reliable to have online.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top