Calls to tackle voter apathy in local politics
Voter apathy and disillusionment with the political system is what’s wrong with local democracy. That’s according to Cllr Stiofán Conaty (SF) who raised what he believes are “issues with the voter registration system and suppression of turnout at elections” during the January monthly meeting of Cavan County Council recently.
“Almost every family in this county has been affected by emigration,” continued Cllr Conaty before adding that, while there would always be a percentage of young people travelling overseas, the current extent of it is “not normal”.
“As far as I’m concerned automatic voter registration is the way to move forward on this; research shows that our electoral system directly affects voter turnout so, if we want to operate an equal society, automatic voter registration is the way to go. The number of spoiled votes, which was disproportionate in the General Election, was eye opening and indicates the serious issues that are there which need to be addressed.”
Education on how to vote
Cllr Clifford Kelly (FF) offered his support to Cllr Conaty’s motion and highlighted the “new” system that will be introduced in 2026 linking PPS numbers, which “will make it easier for people to vote”.
“It was unbelievable to see the thousands of people who didn’t come out to vote,” he lamented. “They live in this county and country, and benefit from everything and yet you have the sad situation where over 40% of people registered to vote didn’t come out and do it.”
Cllr Kelly went on to say that a programme should be introduced in schools that requires young people to be shown how to vote.
“There was a huge number of spoiled votes and that tells us that people don’t actually know what to do,” he added.
Cllr Trevor Smith (FG) agreed there appeared to be “apathy” towards voting.
“My son registered to vote in two minutes online so there really is no excuse for not registering in the first instance,” he said.
Polling cards not stamped
Cllr Damien Brady (SF) added: “It’s disappointing to see people not coming out to vote. With regard to the spoiled votes, if people don’t know how to vote then that is a problem but the fact that we had 30 voting cards that weren’t stamped at the polling station is scandalous. This is something that should never happen.”
Responding to Cllr Brady’s comments, Fianna Fáil’s Cllr John Paul Feeley, added: “When people make the effort to come out and vote and it’s not counted for want of a stamp, that’s unacceptable.
“People are paid to make sure the ballot paper is stamped. I understand the voter registration will be linked to PPS numbers in the future and I think that is going to be important. And, we need to ensure that the staff stamping polling cards deliver on the day.”
Cllr Conaty then asked the council executive if the person who failed to stamp the 30 ballot papers locally could be identified “so we can make sure they are not employed on polling day again”.
He was told that the matter could be raised with the county registrar before members agreed to highlight their concerns in a letter to the Department.