POLLING STATIONS AROUND the country will open at 7am today for the Family referendum and the Care referendum.

The public today are being asked to change two constitutional amendments relating to the definition of family and the provision of care in the home.

Ballot papers for the Family referendum will be coloured white. Ballot papers for the Care referendum will be coloured green. If you need a quick catch up, click here.

Registered voters should attend their local polling station, which is listed on their polling care that was issued to them in recent weeks.

If a polling card was not issued to you, and you are registered to vote, you can check where your local polling station is and your voter number on voter.ie or by calling your local authority.

When attending the polling station, members of the public must bring a legal and valid form of identification.

A drivers licence or passport do constitute as legal forms of identification, but there are a number of different forms which you can bring. You can find a list of legal ID here.

Once your identity has been proven, you will be handed a stamped ballot sheet for you to cast your vote onto. To find a full guide on today’s vote, click here.

The public are being asked today if they want to:

• Amend Article 41 of the Constitution to provide for a wider concept of family (i.e. not one only based on marriage)
• Delete Article 41.2 of the Constitution to remove text on the role of women in the home, and insert a new Article 42B to recognise family care
• The family amendment, the 39th Amendment of the Constitution, proposes to amend Article 41.1.1 to insert the words “whether founded on marriage or on other durable relationships”. It also proposes the deletion of the words “on which the family is founded” from Article 41.3.1.
• The care amendment, the 40th amendment, proposes to delete Article 41.2 from the Constitution and insert an Article 42B with the following wording: “The State recognises that the provision of care, by members of a family to one another by reason of the bonds that exist among them, gives to Society a support without which the common good cannot be achieved, and shall strive to support such provision.”

Voters should mark “X” in either the “yes” or the “no” box on the paper, then fold it and place it in a sealed ballot box. Pencils will be provided, but you can bring your own pen or pencil if you wish.

Polling stations will remain open until 10pm tonight. 

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