Skip to main content

To: Minister for Environment & Department of Environment

Allow NUI & TCD graduates have their vote in Seanad Election

• Set up a supplementary register for the 2016 Seanad Election. This would allow NUI & TCD graduates to register up to Monday 18th April (which is reasonable as it is the same date for acceptance of change of address notification).
• Add anyone who has registered since February 2015 to the register for the 2016 Seanad election
• Promote the extended deadline for Seanad registration and the requirement for NUI & Trinity graduates to register in order to have their vote

Why is this important?

Are you a graduate of UCD, Trinity, NUIM, UCC, NUIG, RCSI, or NCAD? Did you know that you are eligible to vote in the upcoming Seanad election (set to take place on April 26th)? Emigrants who are graduates are also eligible to vote.

But you must be registered to vote.

However, due to lack of awareness and publicity, there are tens of thousands of graduates who have not registered.
For the General election it is possible for a voter to be added to the Supplementary Register up until 15 working days before polling day. But in the Seanad Elections this is not currently the case.
In fact, you needed to register before February 2015 to be eligible to vote in this year’s Seanad Election.
The current Seanad register is not representative of people who have graduated in recent decades. For example, less than 10% of NUI college graduates since 2000 are registered to vote.

That is why the Minister for Environment should set up a supplementary register for the 2016 Seanad Election. This would allow graduates to register up to Monday 18th April (which is reasonable as it is the same date for acceptance of change of address notification).

This is also important for Irish emigrants because it is the only election where emigrants have the right to vote.

The Minister should add to this supplementary register anyone who has registered since February 2015 and he should then promote the extended deadline for Seanad registration and the requirement for NUI & Trinity graduates to register in order to have their vote.

The Seanad is in need of significant reform such as giving all citizens the entitlement to vote in Seanad Elections. Extending the registration deadline would at least, in the interim, extend the opportunity to vote to tens of thousands of Irish citizens in Ireland and abroad.

Updates

2016-02-24 20:29:59 +0000

50 signatures reached

2016-02-18 20:17:24 +0000

25 signatures reached

2016-02-18 08:55:02 +0000

10 signatures reached