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AS THE EIGHTH Amendment referendum draws closer, a number of people have been concerned about not being able to find themselves on checktheregister.ie.
The website is a service provided by local authorities so people can check their entries on the Electoral Register online.
As TheJournal.ie confirmed earlier this week, it is not possible for voters to be removed from the register over the phone by others, but people have still reported not being able to find themselves on the register online, despite having voted before.
For a variety of reasons, people have been unable to find their details on the register when typing in their details.
Amnesty’s Colm O’Gorman was one who took to Twitter about not being able to find his details on the register, and this generated numerous responses from people who had found themselves with similar problems.
People have also brought their concerns to local representatives, with Sinn Féin TD for Limerick Maurice Quinlivan saying that a number of constituents had been in contact over the issue.
Details are crucial
Information is provided to checktheregister.ie - which is run by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government – by local authorities.
Based on their location in the country, people have been having issues finding themselves on the register with inputting eircodes working for some, but not others.
In a statement to TheJournal.ie earlier this week, a spokesperson for the Department said it is not possible to remove a third party from the register in advance of the referendum, and that “many of the doubts being cast online are unfounded”.
Similarly, a spokesperson for Dublin City Council told TheJournal.ie that a large majority of people registered by 15 February this year will remain so until the referendum, unless it’s in the case that a person has died or sends a written request in to have themselves removed.
“The onus is on the elector to check their status and that their details are correct when the draft register is published each year,” the spokesperson said.
But, in many cases, people have found difficulty confirming that status either through their name or the address they provide.
The instances of this vary based on local authorities.
Following up with the Department again, a spokesperson told us that there are a few reasons why people might not be able to find themselves on the online register.
The spokesperson said: “The checktheregister.ie website requires a certain amount of precision when people are checking their details.
Therefore people need to be accurate in entering their details so fadas, apostrophes and other punctuation is important.
They added that if anyone had any doubts over whether or not they were on the register, they “should contact their local authorities directly”.
So if, for whatever reason, you cannot find yourself on checktheregister.ie, the department advises to ring your local authority. Once you are put through to the appropriate section, they will be able to tell you if you are registered to vote.
‘Highest degree of accuracy’
Responding to a query from TheJournal.ie, South Dublin County Council said that local authorities work to “ensure the highest degree of accuracy” in the register and that it would be unlikely for someone to disappear from the register entirely.
And, if someone does happen to be deleted from the register in error, local authorities act to rectify the error immediately.
A spokesperson said: “Another reason for deleting a person is when an RFA form (to be included on the Register of Electors) is submitted with names and an address of all occupants in the household and on examining the database it is noted that another person not included on the form is currently registered at that address, they are deleted.
Every effort is made to ensure each person eligible to vote can vote. There are provisions in place where a person is deleted in error to be re-registered and publicity campaigns advising people to check the register to make sure they are registered. We also use the online deps systems to delete those people who have passed away.
So, if you have registered before, it’s highly likely that you’re still on the register.
If you can’t find yourself using the online site, the best way to know for sure is to ring your local authority who can verify for you if are you on it.
And, if for any reason your are not registered to vote, you still have time. The deadline to register to vote in next month’s referendum is 8 May.
With reporting from Paul Hosford
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I was very impressed, Well done to all concerned.
@David Huston: Well that was the objective i’m sure.
@David Huston: I only saw it on TV3 channels.
The private sector did not know if they would get paid or not if they didn’t risk their lives travelling to work on Monday including building sites even in the worst affected areas.
@Jay Lane: Government should have ordered all businesses to close.
@Eamonn Sheen: they don’t have the power to do that
@Hurt Stoogie: They have the power to ban any employers from punishing an employee for not going out in a red warning.
@Hurt Stoogie: Gardaí where I live visited all local businesses and made them close
@Sandra Turner: What businesses they close & what power would they had to make them close?
@Sandra Turner: Bullshit. Gardai have no such powers.
@Cian O Donoghue: even if they don’t have official power I’d be shocked if any reputable business stayed open after a Garda visit advising not to open for safety of staff and customers
@the phantom: how many gardai would it take to get that done????
@Cian O Donoghue: doesn’t public safety have precedence?
@Jay Lane: my sister works for the private sector and got a text message not to come into work. I work for the public sector and I got no such message and went into work.
The national emergency may not have materialised nation wide on this occasion but the procedures put in place worked well and a bualadh bos is deserved for all concerned…let’s hope the expertise is in place for more serious incidents such as another nuclear disaster at windscale or a flu/disease pandemic.
@winston smith: This is the first i’m finding out about this service.. i don’t have tv and don’t listen to radio, so this emergency broadcast is useless in reaching me. in fact, only for my mother going onto facebook to check in with my workplace, i would have been out at the peak of the storm!
warnings like this need to be far more generalised – as others have said, take mobile phone operators into account as well.. THAT would reach me.
at 30, i don’t bother with tv, radio, or social media usage…my old facebook account is basically for stuff that forces a sign-in. if i didn’t need it for things like the journal, i would get rid (and nope, i don’t have twitter, or whatsapp, or instagram, or whatever else is popular currently).
i get my news from newspapers and the journal. (not a technophobe, just not into social media, etc)
@Mirabelle Stonegate: in fairness, I’d say you’re very much in the minority as a person who doesn’t watch TV or listen to radio. Also you use the journal which had plenty of warnings.
@Mirabelle Stonegate: so.the numerous articles the journal.had warning us and telling us of the red alert was lost on you because tou don’t watch tv or listen to the radio…..
@Mirabelle Stonegate: ya, good man, you’re 30 and mammy is checking to see if you have school in the morning.
@Mirabelle Stonegate: do you realize how dumb you sound. When a Hurricane is approaching you should be looking for news and updates yourself. Depending on your Mother at age 30 is pathetic. I hope she is not depending on you.
@Aine O Connor: I didnt ask her to do that, she did it herself and then rang me.
I was keeping an eye on the journal and the like, but im in a very new job, and still on probation. Im used to working for a company that doesnt care two whits about its employees, so i was of the mind that i needed to get to work no matter what, to ensure i kept my job. I was genuinely shocked that, not only did my new employer close for the day, but that they are still paying us.
A friend at my old company got stuck in england because of the storm and didnt get home until tuesday. They have issued him with a written warning, even though this is the first time he has ever had to call off work in 5 years. The same company gave me a stern talking to for missing a week and a half of work due to a broken wrist. My doctor recommended i be off for 4-6 weeks, but i was told that they couldnt guarantee i would have a job if i stayed off that long. This sort of employer is why i would have been out in the peak of the storm had my mother not thought to check social media.
Unless i were to move home to my parents, i have absolutely no way of getting tv channels in my house. Ive also never really cared for radio, i hated trying to tune as a kid, and now with internet based streaming, it never works right for me.
And im not just talking about for somethinglike a storm that this should be generalised. I check the news when i wak up, and again when i go to bed. If i think of it, i check during the day.
Or what about people who are out of the country? My parents were away earlier in the year, and knew nothing about a couple of the terror attacks that happened at that time, as they make a point not to watch the news whilst on holiday. I know other people who are the same, andignore the news whilst abroad. A text-based system would reach those people.
@Mirabelle Stonegate: so you don’t watch or listen to anything broadcast but you’re upset if you don’t get a broadcast warning?
@Mirabelle Stonegate:
I have a 30 year old daughter and she was constantly in touch with me as I live alone to check that I was ok. Do you get my drift.
These red alerts should come up every time Michael Martin is on TV
@Shaun Gallagher: crazy comment but I do agree. Nothing politician.
@Shaun Gallagher: who is Micheal Martin?
Hmm didn’t see the warning but rarely watch Irish channels.
This should be done on the mobile networks. Regionally or national. The mechanism is already in place with all operators but not licensed. Whilst the alert on tv screens was better than nothing, its from an era when we were all watching Glenroe on sunday eve.
@Colum Cusack: we’ll all the news apps I have sent push notifications.
@Deborah Behan: *well stupid autocorrect
It should use the mobile messaging network to notify all mobile users. It’s a bit old school to broadcast a message on TV. What percentage of the population will be watching TV if there’s a national emergency at 10am?
There was nothing on Netflix
@⚡ Seánie ⚡: Same here – I guess the national emergency is only for those who decide to pay €180 a year.
@⚡ Seánie ⚡: There never is anything on Netflix
@Malachi: you do need to connect to the internet first but I would admit it will probably not work on your 14.4 modem.
What if the lecky is the first thing to go??
@Tony Murphy: On Sunday night? I suppose they’d continue to broadcast to areas with electricity. You can get radios with batteries in Euro shops now.
Should probably show it on stations people actually watch. Rte could show a flash message of “get free money” and nobody would see it. Close them down. Waste of money!
I have a strong feeling that July 2018 will be a busy month in Ireland’s maternity hospitals.
@Mickelodian Ranks: All with the middle name of Ophelia?
So that’s what we pay the tv license for?! :P
Yeah.. there was no proper warnings for the deaf community! I had to rely on online written news instead of the tv! No subtitles, no ISL… ireland is so backwards when it comes to providing proper services for deaf people
@Ruth McCann: To be fair, journal, FB, Twitter, emergency texts all served both deaf and non deaf people equally.
@Ruth McCann: what’s wrong with the signing
at 6 o’clock news
With almost everyone in the country having a mobile device would it not make sense to also send a message to all mobile devices?
Someone removed the ! From the rte notice just after..
I lived in Florida for 20 years. Seen plenty of hurricanes. I would give the emergency centre a “B” grade. More definitive instructions on what workers should do regarding a Red warning could have been given. This would apply especially for government employees, such as HSE and other critical services. A continuous crawl on all TV channels would have been helpful, too many surfers changing channels to ensure they read a momentary bulletin. Lastly, the EBS must include cable providers. Let’s face it, with hundreds of channels on offer not everyone is tuned into RTE in spite of what RTE might believe.
Was the man crying into his cup of tea part of the message
@Brian Harney: Seems an odd choice of screensaver all right. Is his name Hamlet?
WOW, they actually think people still watch this stuff? Put it on netflix etc. and people might actually have seen it.
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