'Encouraging' results from poll on integrity of general election
The electoral commission is exploring the potential for extending postal voting in Ireland.
People arenât going out to vote in Ireland because theyâre away on the day, have work commitments or simply think their vote wouldnât matter, according to new research from the countryâs electoral commission.
An CoimisiĂșn ToghchĂĄin said that it must understand more about who non-voters are and why theyâre staying away from the polls as it published the survey on the publicâs views on the integrity of the general election last November.
It comes as the commission plots further research this year into the potential for extending postal voting in Ireland after previously saying such a move âis seen by many as a potential tool to increase voter participationâ.
The research, called the âNational Election and Democracy Studyâ of 1,500 randomly selected respondents, was described as encouraging from an Irish point of view âat this challenging time for democracies globallyâ.
It found that 94% of people agreed that elections were conducted in accordance with the law, 88% agreed elections were well managed and officials are fair, while 96% agreed they were confident their ballots were secret once they put them in the ballot box.
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There was a mixed bag in terms of the publicâs knowledge of the democratic process.
While nine in ten (90%) said they understood that every one of their preferences had the potential to count, half (51%) mistakenly thought they needed to bring their polling card to vote.
For those who were voting for the first time, the influence of friends, family, school or work was cited by 27% of people as important in encouraging them to get on the electoral register.
A further 24% said they were prompted to register by social media, newspaper, TV or radio ads.
The sample included 324 non-voters with a range of reasons for not voting cited.
This included 30% who said they were away on the day, 27% who said they had work commitments with 12% saying they were disinterested in politics.
A further 11% said they didnât vote due to indecision while 6% said they felt their vote didnât matter.
Almost two in five (37%) of those who did not vote were not on the register.
An CoimisiĂșn ToghcĂĄin said a key priority is to understand the reasons why people donât vote going forward.
âWe simply have to understand more about who non-voters are and why they are staying away from the polls, and so this data will feed into other research projects we are advancing through our broader Research Programme and our public campaigns and engagement,â its chief executive Art OâLeary said.
As part of that research, the commission this year will examine extending postal voting which currently only extends to a small number of people including gardaĂ and diplomats posted abroad.
It has said that Ireland âseems to be an outlier in terms of international best practiceâ.
However, it also said that there would be âsecurity and electoral integrity implications which need to be taken into account in considering the extension of postal votingâ.
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