Postal voting is provided for in electoral law in respect of certain categories of persons who are entered in the register of electors, including electors living at home who are unable to vote because of a physical illness or a physical disability.
Section 66(2) of the Electoral Act 1992 provides that the receipt sent with the ballot paper to postal voters must be in the form directed by the Minister and must have printed thereon the instructions to the voter. For a postal voter with a physical illness or disability the receipt requires the signature of the postal voter and not that of a Garda. The signed receipt, together with the marked ballot paper is then returned to the returning officer in the ballot paper envelope provided.
While some applications for entry onto the supplement to the register of electors require Garda verification, this is not the case for application for entry onto the supplements to the register of electors or the postal voters list by persons with a physical illness or physical disability.