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Holiday-makers and business travellers may get absentee ballots

By Noreen Bowden | April 9, 2008

The Irish times is reporting that An Oireachtas committee will propose that people abroad on holidays or business at election time should be allowed to vote.

The report says the recommendation will be proposed as part of a series of suggested changes to the electoral register to be proposed by the Environment, Heritage and Local Government Committee. It will also recommend that a National Electoral Office should be established to take responsibility for an accurate voting register away from local authorities.

The report of the committee will be released on 16 April.  It will then be up to the Minister for the Environment to make a decision on the next steps.

Currently, Ireland does not allow for any form of voting from outside the country, apart from for those involved in diplomatic service. About 115 countries now allow voting from abroad, with most of those nations allowing their emigrants to vote.

See Ean’s factsheet on external voting.
See the report in the Irish Times (subscription required).

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