Only those resident in the country should get a vote. There should probably be some kind of solution for people who might be holiday or away on work on the day of the vote
The current level of restriction is fair. At most I’d say someone who booked a holiday in advance of the date being announced could be given some leeway if the election fell during their holiday that they would lose money on for cancelling but that’s pretty much the extent of it.
If you regularly live outside of Ireland(for reasons other than Irish state interests) then you aren’t affected by the results of the election and should seek to vote where you live.
“Expat” bores telling us how wonderful it is where they are.
No representation without taxation
Voting without facing the consequences is utter madness
If you don’t live in Ireland, I don’t think it’s reasonable to still be allowed to vote.
I know people leave the country for various reasons, but not being here to live with the consequences of the vote you cast would be wrong.
But where do we draw the line?
Do we allow all citizens abroad to vote? There are six million people in Britain alone who are entitled to Irish citizenship as they have at least one Irish grandparent. Even if 5% of them voted, it would be massive. And that’s just the UK.
Do we allow citizens to vote for a certain length of time after emigrating? How do we manage to control this when we are seeing stories coming out that we can’t even keep a proper list of voters within the state, let alone those residing outside the state.
I live abroad by the way. I don’t think I should have the right to vote. Registered for the EU elections in another country in 2014, which involved me proving I had sent a notification to Ireland to de-register there. Did all of that. Over ten years later, and I’m still registered despite actively taking all the steps to take myself off the list. The register of electors in Ireland is a shit show at the moment. Shouldn’t be even considering changes until it’s tidied up.
Once things have been tidied up at home, there are two ways that could work if people did want to extend voting rights to those abroad.
Copy Sweden and give the right to all citizens with a PPS number. Citizens who never lived in Ireland would not have one.
Copy Poland and just make one “constituency” for people abroad. That way, no matter how many people vote abroad, they can still only elect a limited number of TDs etc. Not sure how it would work for referendums/the presidency though.
Either way, personally I am still against it regardless.
They can keep calling. If you have moved away for more than 1 year, you should lose the right to vote, with a possible exception for presidential elections. As a country we give out passports and citizenship like sweets, so there would be hundreds of thousands of people, maybe more, most of whom have never set foot here, eligible to vote in our elections. Extending the franchise like that for presidential elections would have to be accompanied by a rock solid mechanism enabling the people to remove a rogue president. It’s not inconceivable that MAGA or the Russians could target the presidency if franchise was extended to citizens abroad.
One of them out of the country 12 years and expecting a say? Nope.
Another at the stage of permanent residency in Canada? Nope.
No votes for emigrants and trying to phrase this as a relaxation of the postal vote requirements isn’t going to cut it. I mean, even if you are ordinarily resident in Ireland and have a good reason a postal vote is only given for very good cause (med cert etc)
If you don’t pay tax in the country, you shouldn’t have a vote in the country.
Why should you get a say if you don’t live here?
Fuck no. We’ve millions more passports than people who live here, our government would be too stupid to be able to differentiate between people who lived here for years and have emigrated for whatever reason (who I’d like to see vote) and some yank who has never set foot here.
I live abroad and my mother still receives a polling card for me. I don’t know how much the government are even really keeping track to be honest.
Pay tax on income generated outside of Ireland if you want a vote
Jog on, lads. If you aren’t going to be affected by the laws, the government would pass, no say for you.
Either way, the register needs massive tidying up. People who moved to other countries years ago still being on it need to be scrubbed off it, as well as duplicates.
Nope, just look at what’s happening in Romania. That said, people who are away should have the option to vote, either by post or early in person.
As an Irish person abroad, I don’t believe I should have the right to vote in Irish elections. I don’t live there, I don’t pay taxes there, I don’t use services there, and government policies don’t impact me day-to-day – there’s no justifiable reason for me to able to exercise the same power as someone who lives there.
Bot fuclin late lads. You may as well stay over there!
Good luck to you Fergus. Not a hope.
“Even for those who choose not to return to Ireland, it is our right as Irish citizens to have a say – not just for ourselves, but for our families, siblings, and future generations.”
And no, your family that live here can vote, you shouldn’t.
Nah not keen
Nah, feck that.
I was living abroad for much of the 2010s and missed the SSM referendum, both presidential elections, and the 2020 general election. And that is how it should be – if they really meant that ich to me I could have simply flown home. and rocked up the the voting station.
If you’re not living here, then you don’t get much of a say in what happens here, Irish born and raised or otherwise, and as it should be. Just take a look at Romanian to see where letting people vote who may never face the consequences can get you.
If you don’t live here, you don’t get a say here. It’s quite simple.
No to expat votes being allowed, but there should be an early postal system vote for people temporarily travelling on election day, if that isn’t in place already.
Someone not living here shouldn’t get a say, it’s our tax money their spending through their choice of party
how about no ,
I think 18 months out of the country is reasonable – 10 is not. You don’t live here and aren’t impacted by the decisions
No representation without taxation.
Sorry, I don’t agree with this.
The Irish abroad are an enormous diaspora, where do you start and stop. We would be looking at a scenario where the future of Ireland would be decided by people who don’t actually reside here… which would be ridiculous.
Given the size of the Irish diaspora I’d be against allowing a postal vote for everyone with a passport.
It’d give too much influence to people who have no intention of living here. If someone can’t travel here once every five years to vote then how invested are they in the country?
30 comments
Only those resident in the country should get a vote. There should probably be some kind of solution for people who might be holiday or away on work on the day of the vote
The current level of restriction is fair. At most I’d say someone who booked a holiday in advance of the date being announced could be given some leeway if the election fell during their holiday that they would lose money on for cancelling but that’s pretty much the extent of it.
If you regularly live outside of Ireland(for reasons other than Irish state interests) then you aren’t affected by the results of the election and should seek to vote where you live.
“Expat” bores telling us how wonderful it is where they are.
No representation without taxation
Voting without facing the consequences is utter madness
If you don’t live in Ireland, I don’t think it’s reasonable to still be allowed to vote.
I know people leave the country for various reasons, but not being here to live with the consequences of the vote you cast would be wrong.
But where do we draw the line?
Do we allow all citizens abroad to vote? There are six million people in Britain alone who are entitled to Irish citizenship as they have at least one Irish grandparent. Even if 5% of them voted, it would be massive. And that’s just the UK.
Do we allow citizens to vote for a certain length of time after emigrating? How do we manage to control this when we are seeing stories coming out that we can’t even keep a proper list of voters within the state, let alone those residing outside the state.
I live abroad by the way. I don’t think I should have the right to vote. Registered for the EU elections in another country in 2014, which involved me proving I had sent a notification to Ireland to de-register there. Did all of that. Over ten years later, and I’m still registered despite actively taking all the steps to take myself off the list. The register of electors in Ireland is a shit show at the moment. Shouldn’t be even considering changes until it’s tidied up.
Once things have been tidied up at home, there are two ways that could work if people did want to extend voting rights to those abroad.
Copy Sweden and give the right to all citizens with a PPS number. Citizens who never lived in Ireland would not have one.
Copy Poland and just make one “constituency” for people abroad. That way, no matter how many people vote abroad, they can still only elect a limited number of TDs etc. Not sure how it would work for referendums/the presidency though.
Either way, personally I am still against it regardless.
They can keep calling. If you have moved away for more than 1 year, you should lose the right to vote, with a possible exception for presidential elections. As a country we give out passports and citizenship like sweets, so there would be hundreds of thousands of people, maybe more, most of whom have never set foot here, eligible to vote in our elections. Extending the franchise like that for presidential elections would have to be accompanied by a rock solid mechanism enabling the people to remove a rogue president. It’s not inconceivable that MAGA or the Russians could target the presidency if franchise was extended to citizens abroad.
One of them out of the country 12 years and expecting a say? Nope.
Another at the stage of permanent residency in Canada? Nope.
No votes for emigrants and trying to phrase this as a relaxation of the postal vote requirements isn’t going to cut it. I mean, even if you are ordinarily resident in Ireland and have a good reason a postal vote is only given for very good cause (med cert etc)
If you don’t pay tax in the country, you shouldn’t have a vote in the country.
Why should you get a say if you don’t live here?
Fuck no. We’ve millions more passports than people who live here, our government would be too stupid to be able to differentiate between people who lived here for years and have emigrated for whatever reason (who I’d like to see vote) and some yank who has never set foot here.
I live abroad and my mother still receives a polling card for me. I don’t know how much the government are even really keeping track to be honest.
Pay tax on income generated outside of Ireland if you want a vote
Jog on, lads. If you aren’t going to be affected by the laws, the government would pass, no say for you.
Either way, the register needs massive tidying up. People who moved to other countries years ago still being on it need to be scrubbed off it, as well as duplicates.
Nope, just look at what’s happening in Romania. That said, people who are away should have the option to vote, either by post or early in person.
As an Irish person abroad, I don’t believe I should have the right to vote in Irish elections. I don’t live there, I don’t pay taxes there, I don’t use services there, and government policies don’t impact me day-to-day – there’s no justifiable reason for me to able to exercise the same power as someone who lives there.
Bot fuclin late lads. You may as well stay over there!
Good luck to you Fergus. Not a hope.
“Even for those who choose not to return to Ireland, it is our right as Irish citizens to have a say – not just for ourselves, but for our families, siblings, and future generations.”
And no, your family that live here can vote, you shouldn’t.
Nah not keen
Nah, feck that.
I was living abroad for much of the 2010s and missed the SSM referendum, both presidential elections, and the 2020 general election. And that is how it should be – if they really meant that ich to me I could have simply flown home. and rocked up the the voting station.
If you’re not living here, then you don’t get much of a say in what happens here, Irish born and raised or otherwise, and as it should be. Just take a look at Romanian to see where letting people vote who may never face the consequences can get you.
If you don’t live here, you don’t get a say here. It’s quite simple.
No to expat votes being allowed, but there should be an early postal system vote for people temporarily travelling on election day, if that isn’t in place already.
Someone not living here shouldn’t get a say, it’s our tax money their spending through their choice of party
how about no ,
I think 18 months out of the country is reasonable – 10 is not. You don’t live here and aren’t impacted by the decisions
No representation without taxation.
Sorry, I don’t agree with this.
The Irish abroad are an enormous diaspora, where do you start and stop. We would be looking at a scenario where the future of Ireland would be decided by people who don’t actually reside here… which would be ridiculous.
Given the size of the Irish diaspora I’d be against allowing a postal vote for everyone with a passport.
It’d give too much influence to people who have no intention of living here. If someone can’t travel here once every five years to vote then how invested are they in the country?
Comments are closed.