Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 November 2022
230. Deputy Brendan Howlin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his attention has been drawn to any difficulties with persons accessing the check the register website and in registering to join the electoral roll; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55923/22]
View answerThe Electoral Reform Act 2022, enacted on 25 July, delivers the legislative underpinning for a range of significant electoral reforms set out in the “Programme for Government – Our Shared Future”. Provisions commenced on 13 October under S.I. No. 512 of 2022, included those provisions necessary for the introduction of the new processes in relation to electoral registration.
The main changes to the process include the introduction of rolling (continuously updated) registration; the use of PPSNs in the registration process; and a move to individual registration. Together, these reforms will make it easier for people to register to vote and update their details, while enabling more effective management of the register by local authorities in order to deliver a more accurate register.
In support of making it easier for people to engage with the process, the www.checktheregister.ie site was upgraded. People can now use checktheregister.ie to:
- register for the first time;
- confirm their details by adding their PPSN, date of birth and Eircode;
- update their name or address; or
- download forms.
A major awareness campaign was launched on the 7 November asking the general public to visit checktheregister.ie and update their details with their date of birth, PPSN and Eircode and informing those not already registered or those who wish to pre-register that they can now do so online. As of 9 November, over 10,000 applications were recorded as having been received via checktheregister since 13 October. There have been no particular difficulties reported to my Department with regard to accessing the site or registering on the website.
As with the previous iterations of the site, if an elector has voted before and is unable to find their record on www.checktheregister.ie they can try any of the following:
If a person has changed their name since they last registered, search under their previous name.
If a person have changed address since they last registered, search under their previous address.
Leave the Eircode field blank while searching- the electoral register might not have a person's Eircode details yet
If an elector still cannot find their details, they should contact their own local authority directly for further assistance.
