THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION has said that a cohort of new Irish citizens were blocked from voting in the last presidential election due to a delay in certification being issued. 

It’s one of the issues flagged in a recent review into the presidential election published by the commission which encompassed visits to 100 polling stations across the country. 

An Coimisiún Toghcháin was contacted by people who attended citizenship ceremonies in September 2025 but then missed the deadline to register to vote because their certificates had not yet arrived. 

An Coimisiún Toghcháin staff also met with members of Down Syndrome Ireland in Kerry as they cast their votes on the day to hear about their experiences, as well as speaking with wheelchair users about their voting experience in Donegal. 

An Coimisiún’s review found that 97% of polling stations were accessible to disabled voters, which marked a significant improvement on the last general election. 

It is calling for legislation to be put in place to ensure free access by An Coimisiún to polls and processes, as it says its access is currently hampered, with a lack of overview when it comes to special voting and the issuing and opening of postal votes.

An Coimisiún has made several recommendations off the back of the review, including that voter registration by freepost be available to everyone as well as free online voter registration. 

It has also called for updated guidance on how and why returning officers deem a ballot to be invalid, and how invalid ballots are categorised. 

An Coimisiún further recommended for electoral data reporting forms to be amended so that unmarked ballots are recorded separately from ballots where a first preference isn’t clearly indicated, so there can be a better understanding of voters’ needs. 

Art O’Leary, the Chief Executive of An Coimisiún Toghcháin said that more remains to be done to ensure that election processes in Ireland are accessible to everyone. 

“The promise of democracy is equal participation, our responsibility is to make that promise real for everyone,” he said.