Voters 'need to treat every day like April Fool's' ahead of elections

"To fight false information during election campaigns we need to treat every day like it’s April 1 and to question headlines."

Voters need to treat every day like it’s April Fool’s ahead of this year's elections in order to combat misinformation, the head of the Electoral Commission is warning

With 92% of recent international elections subject to disinformation, there is “no reason to think Ireland would be uniquely exempt from such activity”,  Electoral Commission chief Art O’Leary will tell the Oireachtas on Wednesday.

Mr O’Leary will say that disinformation in the current context does not apply solely to misleading information online, or technical activity involving artificial intelligence or hacking, and will cite a recent case in Germany where some voters were told they could win a prize by writing their own name on the ballot paper.

The Electoral Commission was established in 2023 and has responsibility for administering all elections in an Irish context, taking over from the local authorities and some Government departments.

While the commission has responsibility for electoral integrity, it has no legislative or regulatory remit regarding the spread of disinformation and misinformation.

Mr O’Leary will tell the Oireachtas EU Affairs committee that nevertheless the commission as “a trusted source of information during elections and referendums” is committed to “ensuring that voters are well informed about how to exercise their democratic vote”.

“There’s a day each year when each of us questions the headlines and is critical of everything we hear and read — and that day is April Fool’s Day,” he will say.

“To fight false information during election campaigns we need to treat every day like it’s April 1 and to question headlines.”

Electoral Commission chief Art O’Leary

He will tell the committee that voters need to “question headlines” and ask themselves three questions - ‘who is telling me this’, ‘how do I know it’s true’, and ‘are there other trusted sources’.

Mr O’Leary will state that while attempts to “dissuade and disorientate” voters are “as old as democracy” the methods by which disinformation is being disseminated “are growing in their sophistication and complexity”, adding that “each of us must be our own fact-checkers".

The chief executive had previously told the Oireachtas Housing Committee late last year that, while the commission has no say in the regulation of online disinformation, its remit does incorporate false information in terms of fake voting times or people being told their votes will not be counted, examples which he said the commission “can easily correct”.

He said the Electoral Commission is well placed in the sense that it is a new organisation, and comes into being at a time when it can be attuned and flexible to what's going on in the digital space.

Reporting directly to the Oireachtas, the Electoral Commission acts independently of the Government and is intended to be central to the administration and protection of Ireland’s democratic processes.