Story: Inishowen Independent
A MAJOR revamp of the electoral register is needed
in Donegal following a series of drastic changes to
the county’s electoral area boundaries, local
councillor Francis Conaghan claimed yesterday.
Speaking to the Inishowen Independent, Councillor
Conaghan who welcomed the changes that will see
Inishowen’s council representation increase by one,
said he had raised the matter of the electoral
register last week following what he described as
‘some turmoil’ during the Lisbon Treaty referendum.
During the referendum several instances arose where
voters discovered they were not on the register
while two non-Irish citizens confirmed to this paper
during the week that they had voted unaware that
they were not entitled to do so. According to
councillor Conaghan, several councillors have voiced
their concern about the state of the electoral
register and with local elections due next year they
are particulalrly keen to have anomalies cleared up.
“We were told last week once again that the council
is working with limited resources in relation to
this, but there is no question about it, this is a
major concern for councillors and must be a major
priority for the council.”
Councillor Conaghan insisted that a major review of
the register is needed bearing in mind the amount of
movement of people around the county and of course
the new electoral area boundaries.
“The new boundaries throw up all sorts of
interesting challenges for the council and there
will be lots to look about in the weeks and months
ahead, but the register needs to remain a priority,”
he maintained.
Councillor Conaghan also suggested however that
voters need to play their part in ensuring that the
register is properly updated.
“The reality is that most people don’t look about
this until the last minute and it would appear that
the supplementary register is one that causes a lot
of problems. People really should make sure much
earlier that they are on the register and their
details are correct,” he added. To check the
electoral register visit
www.checktheregister.ie. |
