Athlone voting register is 'totally out of date'

A local councillor has said his indications from his canvas is that the current electoral register for the Athlone electoral area is only about 60% accurate.

Cllr Aengus O'Rourke made his comments as he called for a complete overhaul of the voting register.

He also argued that when a person turns eighteen in Ireland they should be automatically added to the voting register.

"I am four weeks into my canvass of the Athlone area for the local elections in June, and it is clear to me that the voting register is totally out of date. There is currently no proactive process of renewal or updating of registers in place.  It is more than ten years now since local authorities employed personnel to go door to door to ensure we had a fit for purpose register of voting citizens for each constituency.  In those days you could be certain that the register was very accurate.

"Today it would not be unusual to find a two bedroom apartment in Athlone with 8 people registered to vote at the address yet none of these people now living there.  And, more often than not, the people actually living there are probably not on the register. I have encountered this on numerous occasions.

"I recently canvassed 120 houses across three areas and as a result I had to inform the local authority about 7 people who are now dead, 29 people who are no longer living in these areas and 39 people needed to be added to the register.  At this rate the current registers in the Athlone Urban area are only approx. 60% accurate.

"It is a long time since we last went to the polls. February 2020 was the last time we used our vote, over four years.  Since then, imagine all the 18, 19, 20 and 21 year olds out there who are not eligible to vote because they haven't registered.  All of these young adults should in my view be added automatically.

"Within days of a child turning 18 the parents receive a letter from Social Welfare to say they longer qualify for Children's Allowance.  The authorities already have the information, they should use it to register those turning 18.

"I would urge everyone to check if they are on the register and I would urge anyone not on it to register today.  It is easy to do, you just need your Eircode, PPSN and date of birth, and you can register on-line at: checktheregister.ie.