Hogan signs referendums polling day order
Referendums on the Twenty-Ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Judges’ Remuneration) Bill 2011 and the Thirtieth Amendment of the Constitution (Houses of the Oireachtas Inquiries) Bill 2011
Mr. Phil Hogan, T.D., Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, has today (26 September 2011) made an order appointing Thursday, 27th October 2011 as the polling day at the referendums on the proposals for the amendment of the Constitution contained in the Twenty-Ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Judges’ Remuneration) Bill 2011 and the Thirtieth Amendment of the Constitution (Houses of the Oireachtas Inquiries) Bill 2011. This is the same day as polling at the Presidential election. Polling will take place between the hours of 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.
The Minister has appointed Ríona Ní Fhlanghaile, a Principal Officer in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, to be the referendum returning officer for the referendums.
Every Irish citizen who is 18 years of age and included in the register of electors is entitled to vote at the referendums. The total electorate currently stands at some 3.1 million.
Persons who are eligible to vote but who are not registered as electors still have time to apply for entry on the supplement to the register of electors to be published before polling day and so be able to vote on 27 October 2011. Application forms can be downloaded from www.checktheregister.ie or can be obtained from City or County Councils. To be eligible for inclusion in the supplement to the register a person must be an Irish citizen, must be 18 years of age by polling day and must be ordinarily resident in the State.
Applications for inclusion in the supplement must be signed in the presence of and witnessed by a member of the Garda Síochána or, if the person cannot attend their local Garda Station, by an official of their City or County Council provided they state the reason why they were unable to attend a Garda station. If, because of a physical illness or physical disability, a person cannot attend either their local Garda Station or their City or County Council, their application form must be accompanied by a medical certificate. The final date for receipt of completed application forms by the relevant City or County Council is Monday, 10October 2011.
If a person is eligible to vote by post, or is unable to vote in person due to a physical illness or physical disability and is resident in a hospital, nursing home or similar institution, and they are not on the Postal Voters List or Special Voters List, they can apply for inclusion in the supplement to those lists. Application forms are available from City and County Councils who will advise people of the appropriate arrangements for the completion of the relevant form. Completed forms must be received by the relevant City or Council not later than Wednesday 28 September 2011.
Referring to the forthcoming Presidential election and referendums, the Minister took the opportunity to encourage Local Returning Officers to consider employing unemployed people on polling day and at the subsequent counts in each constituency.
“While the efficient conduct of polls and the count is clearly dependent on having sufficiently skilled and experienced people, I would ask all Local Returning Officers to make a special effort to employ suitable persons who are unemployed”, the Minister said.
Minister Hogan acknowledged that Local Returning Officers at the Presidential Election and referendums are responsible for all local matters such as the selection, appointment and training of polling station and count staff in accordance with electoral law. However, he also indicated that there was generally scope for taking on unemployed people and that guidance issued by his Department had drawn attention to that possibility.
