*Anyone* ordinarily resident in Ireland is eligible to vote in local elections.
You’ve got to be shitting me! What happens with a vote if an asylum seeker gets deported?! 🤣
While I know this isn’t a news per se and exists for 20 years now, this practice should be abolished.
Seems like a flaw. Only citizens should be eligible to vote.
I wonder is Citywest being canvassed
Why is a Temporary Registration Certificate accepted as valid ID documentation? In the absence of passport or ID the International Protection Office accept the information that an asylum seeker provides them at “face value” and issues a Temporary Registration Certificate, which is considered valid ID for voting at local elections.
Surely, in light of the fact that 85% of asylum seeker applicants entered Dublin Airport with no passport or valid ID, as verified by the Department of Justice, this should be challenged?
Section 10 Part Il of the Electoral Act, 1992 states that a person is entitled to vote in local elections if he/she is
“ordinarily resident” in a local electoral area at the qualifying date.
The term ‘ordinarily resident’ is not defined in the Act. It is, however, defined in our tax laws – Section 820 TCA 1997 which states that if you have been tax resident in Ireland for 3 consecutive tax years, you become ordinarily resident from the beginning of the 4th tax year.
So why is the definition of “ordinarily resident”, specifically stated in Irish legislation, not being applied to voting eligibility? Why should it be interpreted any other way, even if not specifically defined in the Electoral Act itself?
This means that all asylum seekers, including those 85% without official passports or any verifiable documents are eligible to vote and run as candidates in the local elections in June. It flies in the face of the rights of the people here to determine their own governance.
Is it time to review the Electoral Act, 1992 to restrict local election voting rights to citizens, like other European countries, the UK etc? Go and check how many EU countries have this policy as Ireland does.
I’ll say it again, I don’t have anything against immigration, but illegal immigration and coming into a country with fake passports or without passports that magically disappeared mid flight says enough of a person doing that. What can you expect of them.
Go and ask Derry mayor, claiming she came to UK as a refugee from Kenya fearing for her life, while her brother is highly ranking and established politician there. I’m sure he could’ve helped her.
And listen to this…she said that everyone in the Republic fighting against illegal immigration should be labelled as a terrorist! GTFO
For moaners the process makes sense. There isn’t 1 rule for all elections. They vary:
**Local Councillors** who make decisions for their small communities can be voted by people who live in those communities electoral areas, regardless of their birthplace. They can implement changes like bike lanes and playgrounds. Any local candidate claiming they’re gonna solve major national problems is talking out their ass. An immigrant should absolutely have a say about what goes on in the town they live in.
**MEPs** represent us in Europe, so can be voted on by any EU citizen living in their European constituency. MEPs affect European regulations and there is free movement in Europe for all European citizens. So it would be complete bullshit if we, as EU citizens, lost our right to vote while still living in the EU.
The real power in Ireland is held by **TDs.** And in particular the Party with the most TDs, as they always vote in unison if you ever look up the Dáils voting decisions. Only Irish and British citizens living in Ireland can vote for a TD in the general election. The Brits can vote here, because we can vote there and because we don’t have a hard border (they can’t vote in the EU election though)
Everyone should have a say in their locality no matter where they live or where they came from. It’s a strength of our system. They can’t vote in anything national.
This is a degradation our citizenship if anyone can land into the country and automatically get a right to vote in both the European and local elections. How on earth is this acceptable.
Genuinely curious, does this mean asylum seekers can be called for jury duty?
My understanding is they use the electoral register for calling people for jury duty.
10 comments
Fair play to Salman.
*Anyone* ordinarily resident in Ireland is eligible to vote in local elections.
You’ve got to be shitting me! What happens with a vote if an asylum seeker gets deported?! 🤣
While I know this isn’t a news per se and exists for 20 years now, this practice should be abolished.
Seems like a flaw. Only citizens should be eligible to vote.
I wonder is Citywest being canvassed
Why is a Temporary Registration Certificate accepted as valid ID documentation? In the absence of passport or ID the International Protection Office accept the information that an asylum seeker provides them at “face value” and issues a Temporary Registration Certificate, which is considered valid ID for voting at local elections.
Surely, in light of the fact that 85% of asylum seeker applicants entered Dublin Airport with no passport or valid ID, as verified by the Department of Justice, this should be challenged?
Section 10 Part Il of the Electoral Act, 1992 states that a person is entitled to vote in local elections if he/she is
“ordinarily resident” in a local electoral area at the qualifying date.
The term ‘ordinarily resident’ is not defined in the Act. It is, however, defined in our tax laws – Section 820 TCA 1997 which states that if you have been tax resident in Ireland for 3 consecutive tax years, you become ordinarily resident from the beginning of the 4th tax year.
So why is the definition of “ordinarily resident”, specifically stated in Irish legislation, not being applied to voting eligibility? Why should it be interpreted any other way, even if not specifically defined in the Electoral Act itself?
This means that all asylum seekers, including those 85% without official passports or any verifiable documents are eligible to vote and run as candidates in the local elections in June. It flies in the face of the rights of the people here to determine their own governance.
Is it time to review the Electoral Act, 1992 to restrict local election voting rights to citizens, like other European countries, the UK etc? Go and check how many EU countries have this policy as Ireland does.
I’ll say it again, I don’t have anything against immigration, but illegal immigration and coming into a country with fake passports or without passports that magically disappeared mid flight says enough of a person doing that. What can you expect of them.
Go and ask Derry mayor, claiming she came to UK as a refugee from Kenya fearing for her life, while her brother is highly ranking and established politician there. I’m sure he could’ve helped her.
And listen to this…she said that everyone in the Republic fighting against illegal immigration should be labelled as a terrorist! GTFO
For moaners the process makes sense. There isn’t 1 rule for all elections. They vary:
**Local Councillors** who make decisions for their small communities can be voted by people who live in those communities electoral areas, regardless of their birthplace. They can implement changes like bike lanes and playgrounds. Any local candidate claiming they’re gonna solve major national problems is talking out their ass. An immigrant should absolutely have a say about what goes on in the town they live in.
**MEPs** represent us in Europe, so can be voted on by any EU citizen living in their European constituency. MEPs affect European regulations and there is free movement in Europe for all European citizens. So it would be complete bullshit if we, as EU citizens, lost our right to vote while still living in the EU.
The real power in Ireland is held by **TDs.** And in particular the Party with the most TDs, as they always vote in unison if you ever look up the Dáils voting decisions. Only Irish and British citizens living in Ireland can vote for a TD in the general election. The Brits can vote here, because we can vote there and because we don’t have a hard border (they can’t vote in the EU election though)
Everyone should have a say in their locality no matter where they live or where they came from. It’s a strength of our system. They can’t vote in anything national.
This is a degradation our citizenship if anyone can land into the country and automatically get a right to vote in both the European and local elections. How on earth is this acceptable.
Genuinely curious, does this mean asylum seekers can be called for jury duty?
My understanding is they use the electoral register for calling people for jury duty.