Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 7 October 2009
339 Deputy John O’Mahony asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the reason people who were not entitled to vote in the Lisbon Treaty referendum on 2 October received polling cards stating they had a vote; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35000/09]
Amharc ar fhreagra344 Deputy Emmet Stagg asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the fact that non-Irish citizens living in County Kildare received polling cards for the Lisbon referendum on 2 October, although they had no entitlement to vote in a referendum; if he has established the person who was responsible for this error; when the error was first drawn to his attention; the reason no action was taken to alert those who had received cards in error in advance of polling day; the steps which are being taken to ensure that such an error does not occur in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34657/09]
Amharc ar fhreagra345 Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if polling cards for the Lisbon Treaty referendum were issued across all constituencies, or only some to persons not entitled to vote in a referendum; the number of such voting cards which were printed and distributed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34703/09]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 339, 344 and 345 together.
Under electoral law, local returning officers are responsible at a referendum for sending a polling information card (PIC) to every presidential elector (i.e. Irish citizens) whose name is on the register of electors; there are 3,078,032 such electors on the register of electors which came into force on 15 February 2009.
At the recent referendum, the PIC was issued with the Statement for the Information of Voters, which was prescribed by the Oireachtas, as a single document with the PIC being detachable from the statement. In order to assist local returning officers with the addressing and issuing of the PICs, the Office of Public Works put in place a central contract for this work and returning officers were responsible for supplying the relevant register of electors data to the printers.
Possession of a PIC does not confer a right to vote. It was stressed to local returning officers and polling station staff in written guidance from my Department in advance of the referendum that they must refuse to issue a ballot paper to any individual who is recorded on the register of electors as being a non-Irish citizen.
