LAST UPDATE | 5 Mar 2024

THE ELECTORAL COMMISION has described a ‘Vote No’ referendum poster published by Senator Sharon Keogan as “an incorrect representation” of the question people are being asked to vote on in this Friday’s referendums.

The poster is one of a number printed by the senator, using money from a Gofundme page, in the lead up to the referendum votes on 8 March, International Women’s Day.

This Friday’s votes have been dubbed the Family Amendment and the ‘Women in the home’/Care Amendment and the poster in question appears to refer to the latter. 

While the other posters produced by Keogan have not drawn criticism from the Commission, the one that reads, “Don’t force mothers out to work… Vote No” misrepresents what the current provision and its proposed amendment actually mean, the Commission has said. 

The poster described as incorrect by the Electoral Commission. The Journal The Journal

“An Coimisiún Toghcháin (The Electoral Commission) is clear that one of the posters which have been posted in a number of areas in Dublin and elsewhere under the imprint of Senator Sharon Keogan is an incorrect representation of what people are being asked to vote on this Friday,” the Commission’s chair Justice Marie Baker told The Journal in a statement.

“People should be aware that there is nothing in the Constitution or in either of the two referendum proposals which will force women to go out to work or to stay at home. To suggest otherwise is a factual misrepresentation of the existing text or the 2 proposals,” she said.

The vote on the Care Amendment will see people decide on replacing language widely seen as archaic and sexist towards women with gender neutral wording. 

The vote on the Family Amendment concerns expanding the definition of family beyond those defined only by marriage. 

Baker welcomed the “respectful debate and exchange of ideas” that have taken place during the campaign but warned that “we should always question whether information is true; who is providing the information; why they are providing the information, and how it can be confirmed or reconsidered?”

She advised people to consult reliable sources for information on the referendums. 

As reported by The Journal, the upcoming referendums have given rise to multiple forms of misinformation about what the votes entail. 

You can find a detailed explanation of the referendum questions here. 

In a statement issued this evening, Keogan said that she stands by her poster and she is “deeply concerned” by the intervention of the Electoral Commission.