@Jenni – “Couldn’t be arsed” isn’t making an excuse, it’s stating that you couldn’t be arsed.

I didn’t vote because I couldn’t be arsed with it, the first time since I became eligible at 18. Hopefully it sends a message to the government to not run proposals that people just don’t care about by themselves in future.

No they can’t. It’s not in law and the government don’t make the law. Think before you spoof…it makes you look stupid if you don’t…

Gov don’t make the law?! Last I heard from you mick was your giving out to people who didn’t pay the house hold charge which you said was the law!? Implemented by the government, care to explain why now you think the opposite?

Implemented by the government Ryan, Parliament makes the law.

The government do make the laws

Laws are made by things called parliaments.

And the Majority vote in a Parliament is called? ……..All together now…The Goverment!

Ryan, how is that the opposite?

Depressing turnout. CSPE in schools should be continued through to sixth year to inform and motivate the next generation of voters.

Meh, It should be passed by a large margin I’d say.

Regardless of how people vote if you don’t vote you have no right of complaint if you disagree with the outcome. It is your duty to vote in my opinion.

Yes or No fair play to the those who did make the effort and voted yesterday

Joe
Could you let me know what will win the three thirty at Haydock Park as you seem to have a wonderful ability to see the future or am I wrong and are you just misusing English or worse could you possible be just imagining the result?

Yeah coat-hanger in that race, put your shirt on him.

Creamy is a spoofer, he does not do logic…he just likes giving out…

32% in the polling station I was in

Bundling a number of changes into one yes/no vote did not help.

Don’t believe in compulsory voting. If you don’t use your vote you should be removed from the voting register and have to apply to get back on again.

@David – I’m completely against the idea. The majority of people here, on either side but particularly the negative side, vote on proposals for reasons that have nothing to do with what is being proposed. We had clowns here yesterday saying they voted no because they weren’t happy with the campaign the government ran – that’s taking the piss out of our democratic process.

It’s not confined to a few people, most people who are voting here do it. People vote No because they don’t like the government, people vote Yes to not vote in line with SF and more.

To suggest amplifying this nonsense is something I absolutely cannot support. If you want to bring in mandatory voting, then everyone turning up to vote should have to do a quick 10 question multiple choice test on the proposal before they’re given their vote and are only permitted once they get over 7/10 or similar.

There was a big turn out for the general election. People were told they’d get a change. People have lost all interest in what this government do and don’t trust them. I am one of them.
If the state really cared about children they would help parents and society with programs e.g. Alcohol and drugs.

Sean… you say a lot of people had a lot of excuses why they didn’t vote…
my excuse like a lot of others is
i didn’t bother my arse

They do Mark, there are a few different systems / schemes in place to help families from disadvantaged areas and those addicted to substances. They have to want to take part though, you can’t chain them to a chair. A lot do in fairness and it’s great for the children, it gives them a more positive outlook. Breaks the cycle.

Mark, none of that is really relevant. You should still be voting on an important change to the constitution.

Baxter as far as I’m concerned the right to vote is wasted on people like you.

The apathy of the Irish electorate over protecting the vulnerable in society (as indicated by low turnout) is extremely sad. Particularly in view of the fact that in this country we have a sordid history of child abuse. The fact that people don’t care enough perpetuates such abuse. As a society we have learned nothing.

Irene, I couldn’t agree more! The hear no evil, see no evil monkeys come to mind when I read some comments on here. Also people using a vote on a referendum for the most vulnerable in our society to get back at our government is shocking. It’s a low point for us as a nation sadly.

@Susan @Irene I genuinely think people didn’t vote because they were not sure what way to vote! I voted,but only after it was explained from both sides… The government didn’t really help their case by not making clear what it was about

@Sean, it is relevant. peeps have lost interest in government. They don’t believe what they say. There is so much spin that peeps have turned off. Unless your interested in this referendum and tried to understand it it would pass you by.

i think people didnt turn out to vote because of the little understanding everyone has on the issue because of the onesided information given by this decietful government. if it is a no vote then they will state that the reason is because people didnt understand and will make us vote again and people will then turn up to vote and vote yes because they feel the yes vote is being forced on us and wont want to be bothered about another vote being forced upon them

The lack of information available is another argument. Its the people using their vote as a grudge vote or those saying they didn’t care it doesn’t concern them that’s quite upsetting. As for information, there is a wealth of information available online. I’m not talking about the government websites, there are websites where you can find out the history of laws concerning children in Ireland. As I said, that’s another argument and a personal choice if you want to put that much effort into your vote and wasn’t my argument at all.

Sean, i dont agree. If people aren’t interested they shouldn’t vote. This allows a fair democracy where the people that ARE interested have their say and it means more because the pool of voters who care is less.

Part of our democracy is having the freedom to choose not to vote.

@Sean – I don’t make any excuses, I just wasn’t bothered. It was the first time since I became eligible at 18 and I know a load of others in the same boat – not bothered or not interested.

Bring something important to the table and people will turnout. Bring something that only a tiny minority are concerned or care about, as the turnout yesterday will verify, and the turnout will be low.

The best idea going forward is just to have more than one proposal at each referendum.

Is their system better run or do they still have to take time out of their day to sit outside a crowded school with a ridiculously small carpark and wait half an hour until a space becomes available?! Sort their sh1t out, then fine us!

I voted, went to the post office, the shop, butchers and chemist with 2 kids in toe and was home in half an hour I understand your frustration at having to queue to vote maybe I wouldn’t have been as keen if my experience was like yours. On a positive note all the shop keepers were saying there was increased shoppers about because of the voting maybe that was just my little area but a positive none the less.

More shoppers around a crappy local centre for half an hour because of the referendum?! Yay, recession over…

@Creamy. People in other parts of the world put their lives at risk to vote and you can’t be bothered to vote because you can’t find a parking space. Good man.

No, Paul, I didn’t say I can’t be bothered or that I didn’t go because of the parking issues.

I said I don’t care about this particular issue. That’s the one and only reason I didn’t vote this time.

Creamy, for someone who doesn’t care about the issue in this referendum you sure spend a lot of time on articles about it in The Journal screaming to the world about how much you don’t care. Going out to vote would have taken a fraction of the time it took you to write every comment about the referendum you have made to date.

You stated yesterday that you would not vote because you “did not care”. What would it matter to someone that does not care?

On the surface that sounds like a good idea, but you missed one very important factor… The anonymity of voting. If your Pps no. was required the system could easily be abused.

Mick, I personally don’t care about this particular issue.

But do 70% of the population not care either or would they have voted online if it was so easy to do so?

Fine, leave out the pps no. Problem solved.

It takes 5 mins of your life to vote in a secure place where there is photo identification required if needed. It’s not that hard to make an effort. Leave out the PPS number, problem solved? Sorry, but how is that the problem solved?

OK Mick, lets leave it the way it is.

I don’t care.

That might save about 20 million simple to organise send out a signle to the world about how technically advanced we are

so therfore not a runner !

How could you tell it was actually the person voting, and not a house-mate, partner, friend or just someone who stole a load of post?

How is that done at the moment Andy?

By bringing ID? Well then enter the pps number…

Are you just acting stupid or can you not actually see the difference between showing photo id and entering a number anonymously on the Internet?

@Creamy. You’ve obviously never voted. Yes you have to bring ID but there is absolutely no reference to your identity on the ballot paper. The only information that can be gathered under the current system is that you actually voted but gives no indication of your preferences.

Too easy a target for manipulation. If huge companies that spend hundreds of millions on IT security and even depts of governments all over the world can be hacked, what makes you think that the results of online voting cannot be manipulated, from inside or out?

I couldn’t vote because I’ve emigrated, but I did encourage friends to vote. One of my friends living in Dublin said she was not happy about being given a pencil to mark her ballot paper….I have to agree, surely an indelible marking implement like a pen would have ensured non tampering of ballots. Not suggesting there was tampering but it should not be made easy to do so either.

@Adam – The people who didn’t bother voting are a disgrace regardless of whether they voted yes or no?

Well said.

I would love to agree with this, and certainly would have in the past. Unfortunately, in the voting back in June, I was unable to take part, as I couldn’t get back to my polling station, thanks to my work hours. Now, I’m aware of the whole postal voting thing, but I wasn’t able to avail of that. You have to register by the previous November, and I only found out at the end of May that I wouldn’t be able to get back to my voting station.

I think a better solution might be… if you don’t show up say.. 3 times, THEN remove the name, or fine a person or something. Since turning 18 about 7 years ago, I’ve only missed that one voting opportunity. If my right to vote for the next referendum was stripped from me as a result of something I couldn’t get around (and I did try and get my hours fixed, but to no avail, as sometimes happens), then I would be very *very* upset.

They called to my house a few months ago to confirm that the people registered still live there etc. Probably a little more up to date than you might think.

I’m with you there, Laura. I will technically be one of the 70% that will be classed as not voting, simply because someone, somewhere messed up, and I get two dockets for every vote. One of which, has an incorrect name on it O.o (It can only be me, though… there are three people in the family, and the incorrect one only started showing up after I turned 18).

I did, however, go and vote under my correct name.

So far 60:40 in favour of yes. Thankfully.

It’s to easy to rig an Internet voting system.

Lazy excuse … Plenty of info out there for months

I agree. It’s up to the individual to inform themselves. Info is supplied to all households, there’s a website. Short of implanting it in your brain, what more can be done?

If they are withholding from voting as a form of protest if doesn’t work, not having enough information doesn’t work. Its the duty of every citizen over 18 to vote. If you wish to spoil your vote you also have the right, but you DO NOT have the right to give out if you didn’t cast a vote. Yes no spoil. Imbeciles for coming with excuses why not to vote.

Hi Danny,

Yes, we’re aware of the problem and working on a fix right now. Thanks for bearing with us!

Sinead

That’s what spoilt votes are for…

It;s not about telling the world how great we wre. It’s about telling the world that the reason this state is broken is because of people not participating and then wanting to blame those who do.

At least we who voted (Yes, No or Spoiled) made an effort to do what we believe is right, no need for a high horse to look down on you when I can see non-voters dwelling in the gutters.

@Francis – Actually, the “state is broken” because people are more self-orientated than ever. People voted in FF consecutively because it meant the best for their pockets, they grabbed at credit because it suited their pockets and they demanded high value property because it suited their egos.

Not participating isn’t what has damaged this state, it’s the people who did participate that have wrecked the place for the future.

No it’s handing over all rights to the state. A vote not cast counts as a vote for the state.

Looking like it will be passed, proper order really, most of the no side hadn’t a clue about this amendment..

@Bryan – same as always really. The “No” side rarely deal in facts in referenda.

Ah yes facts! The very thing the government fixed! FFS Sean there really was no, NO side. Those that did vote no researched and came to their own conclusion as to why vote no. You must work for the government with those wide generalised sweeping statement!

@Aaron – Of course mandatory voting would lead to more “No” votes. People vote “No” out of ignorance and very little else.

The people on this site are so amusing – if someone doesn’t entirely align with your opinion then it’s not only wrong, but it’s the enemy.

Kevin, this question gets asked at every single vote.
The answer is still the same.
Pencils are supplied, but you can use your own pen.
There is no “Government conspiracy.”

This was actually a very important proposal. Unfortunately people couldn’t take the time to look at the wider implications of this ammendment outside of the area of child abuse.