Over 500 staff get ready to man 255 polling stations

Over 500 staff across Cavan and Monaghan will manage the upcoming controversial referendum on marriage equality on May 22.
According to figures from the Court Service in Cavan, across both counties there is a total electorate of 102,418, who will be served by 255 polling booths, each manned by a polling clerk and a presiding officer with additional supervisors working the larger polling stations, all under County Registrar Joseph Smith.
Voting booths will be open across the constituency from 7am to 10pm at 136 locations in Co Cavan and 119 in Co Monaghan.
The constituency has 616 registered voters who vote by post, mostly Army and Navy personnel abroad, with allowances for others in, for example, the diplomatic corps or those in prison, who have up to May 22 to have their vote received by mail.
Polling officers have already received 236 'specials’, which are comprised of people in nursing homes who cast their vote in the presence of a visiting presiding officer and gardaí.
The count will go ahead in the leisure centre in Drumalee on Saturday, May 23, with attendance by ticket only. Interested parties can apply for tickets at the courthouse in Cavan but additional staff for either day are not required.
Cavan County Council is urging people to vote earlier in the day for a smooth referendum. A council spokesperson noted that “482 have been added to the supplementary register, which brings the total up to 53,680 in the county - that includes a large uptake from young people, with many of them only just turned 18”.
The council is reminding people who did not get on the register in time for the May 22 vote that they can now apply to be added up until October for any future general election and that checktheregister.ie does not automatically update the online supplementary register, so while people might be registered they still might not be able to find their details recorded online.
Details of local polling stations are on voting cards that have been sent to the 100K-plus homes across the two counties.
Weekend polls say the 'yes’ side is leading but that the margin is narrowing.
The Sunday Business Post REDC poll found 69% of voters would vote 'yes’ - down three points.
That poll saw the 'no’ vote jump by five points to 25% with six per cent undecided.
Meanwhile, a Sunday Independent MillwardBrown poll reported the biggest drop in the 'yes’ vote.
It was down 13 points to 53% compared to the last poll in April.
The 'no’ vote increased by three points to 24% and there was an even bigger jump in the number of undecided voters - up 10 points to 23%.
The Marriage Equality Referendum will be the 34th amendment to the constitution, if passed, while people are also asked to vote on the 35th amendment, which is to lower the age of a person eligible to be president down from 35 to 21. That bill, however, is expected to be heavily defeated.