asked the Minister for the Environment if it is proposed to introduce postal voting for local authority elections for persons other than Army and Garda personnel; and, if so, if he will give details.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Postal Voting.
5.
At present, postal voting at local elections is governed by the Local Elections (Postal Voting) Regulations, 1974. In addition to gardaí and members of the Defence Force, these regulations entitle a wide category of electors to apply for a postal vote at local elections.
It will be recalled that on 28 June 1984 the Dáil decided to refer to the Joint Committee on Legislation proposals in relation to postal voting which are intended to apply at elections generally. On receipt of the Joint Committee's report, the position in relation to postal voting at the 1985 local elections will be considered in the light of the committee's report.
Is the Minister saying that he is waiting for a report from the Joint Committee on Legislation?
Yes.
Is the Minister aware that the Joint Committee have considered this matter and that the report was published on 17 October?
I am not so aware. To my knowledge this report has not been transmitted to me. The report may be published.
Would the Minister recognise that I have a report in my hands entitled: Official Report Joint Committee on Legislation, 17 October 1984? Is the Minister saying that he does not even know about this?
I am not saying that. I have not had that transmitted to me.
But it has been circulated to every Deputy in the House.
It has not been circulated to me as Minister for the Environment. That is what I am saying to the Deputy.
Would the Minister not agree that we have a duty to enable wheelchair occupants and other people with disability to exercise the franchise? Does he not feel that if there is a proper will to help these people this would have been done before now, that many polling booths are inaccessible to such people and that we are not making a proper effort to enable these people to exercise their right to vote?
The question refers to local elections and under the existing local election scheme an elector may apply to vote by post on the grounds of circumstances of his occupation, service or employment, absence from a place in respect of which he is registered as an elector, illness or physical disability, or his employment by a returning officer in connection with elections. This gives wide scope for any category of persons covered there to vote by post.
Which regulation is the Minister referring to? Is it the 1974 regulations?
I am referring to the Local Elections (Postal Voting) Regulations, 1974.
Is the Minister aware that they applied only in 1974, that the Minister at the time said he was introducing them as an experiment, and that they were not introduced or put into effect in the 1979 local elections? Is it the Government's intention to extend the postal vote to voters in the local elections which the Minister says will be held next June according to a decision of his Government?
These postal vote rules were not applied at the last local elections because the local elections were held on the same day as the European elections, therefore, the rules for a general election-type postal voting had to apply on that day. These rules are still in existence and in force for local elections.
In view of the fact that the Minister is aware now of the existence of this report from the Joint Committee on Legislation, when can he announce what he proposes to do regarding postal votes for the disabled at local elections?
As I said, the rules under the existing legislation allow a very wide use of the postal vote for various categories including the disabled and the physically handicapped. This postal voting regulation will apply in the local elections. Certainly I will consider the report from the committee, but in case there would be some misunderstanding I say that the rules are there for the local elections and can be applied.
The Minister's own proposals for extending the postal vote as presented to the Joint Committee on Legislation referred to the persons who would thus be entitled to a postal vote having their names recorded on the draft register of electors as postal voters, whereas the 1974 regulations, as far as I recall, do not make that provision. They allow for persons who thought they might qualify for the postal vote to make application to the registration authority in a period shortly before the election. There is quite a significant difference.
Ceist 6.
In view of the fact that we are moving into the period when the draft register of electors must be published, that is by 15 December next, is it the Minister's intention to make an early decision in that so that the registration authorities would be directed to make the necessary arrangements to have persons entitled to postal vote registered as such in the draft register to be published on 15 December?
I am satisfied that the postal vote will be available to the categories I have mentioned but I will see if it is possible to adopt the proposals in the committee's report.
A final supplementary from Deputy Leonard.
A Cheann Comhairle——
I know a number of people would like to contribute on this but it is Question Time.
Would the Minister agree that in the 1974 elections the system that operated was very liberal? The result was that many people who were not incapacitated but away from home availed of the vote. As a result in elections since then people who were incapacitated and in wheelchairs were denied the right to vote. Would it not be better to have a fairly strict interpretation at all elections and allow those incapacitated people to record their vote?
I would agree with the Deputy when he says that other categories of people were allowed to vote, but they were allowed to vote because of the regulations. I have listed the type of employment problems that might have arisen where a person would not have been available on the day. There is a generous allowance towards postal voting in the 1974 regulations. I am prepared to accept Deputy Molloy's suggestion and see if we can have the committee's recommendations studied and into legislation before the latest publication of the draft register of electors.
On 15 December.
Can we take it that the Minister's reservations about the 1974 regulations have been overcome and that he is giving a commitment now that those regulations will be implemented for the 1985 local elections?
In regard to the Deputy's concern that disabled people would be entitled to vote, I was assuring him that under the regulations this will be possible by postal voting. Obviously, with the new information that the committee's recommendations will present to me, these will be studied and, if possible, brought into legislation at the earliest opportunity in time for the local elections.
To clarify one matter——
I am not going to allow this to be debated for the hour.
Will this be available in the 1985 local elections for the disabled under either the 1974 regulations——
Yes, under one or the other.
In the Minister's proposals to the committee was it not proposed to extend the vote to persons who could show that by the circumstances of their occupation, services or employment or physical illness or physical disability, they would be unable to vote at their local polling station, and would therefore, be entitled to apply for a postal vote and be registered on the voters' list and a special postal voters' list would be published by 15 December of each year? I urge the Minister to proceed along the lines of his own proposal which was discussed recently by the Committee on Legislation.