Speeches
Electoral Ammendment Bill - Extracts from Fiona O'Malley's Speech in Dáil
Electoral Ammendment Bill – Extracts from Fiona O’Malley’s Speech in Dáil on Wednesday 4th October 2006.
I welcome the Bill. I listened with interest to Deputy Morgan's contribution. Ireland never prohibited the right of prisoners to vote. The purpose of the Bill is misunderstood.
We did not prohibit it and that is important. The Deputy is misrepresenting the rights people have enjoyed in this country. It was ironic and showed the danger the country might be subjected to should Sinn Féin get into Government and when Deputy Morgan questioned whether proof of address should be required for inclusion on the register of electors. This should be a basic requirement. Many people have worried about the state of the electoral register, and did so with good reason. They have seen people arrive in busloads and fill single occupancy houses so they can vote for an individual.
Proof of address is a basic minimum requirement for the important duty and responsibility of voting, which should be treated with the dignity it deserves. I am surprised that Deputy Morgan suggests otherwise.
The Bill only refers to persons imprisoned in the State. This imposes a responsibility on us to get people registered. However, what about Irish citizens held in prisons overseas? Does the Bill put an obligation on the State to ensure that those people are registered? Take, for example, a person who goes on holiday to Thailand and finds himself or herself in prison there. The person is ordinarily resident at his or her address here and would presumably be entitled to vote. However, if the person is incarcerated abroad, is he or she entitled to vote and does this put an onus on the State to ensure the person receives a polling card? How can this be managed?
I listened with interest to Deputy Gilmore's contribution. He was worried about undue influence being imposed on prisoners. It could be said that Members who are keen canvassers bring undue influence to bear on people because we are trying to persuade them to support us. If people were to canvas in a prison, why should they be different and why should it be assumed that they are trying to bring undue influence to bear? That raises the issue of access for canvassing in prisons. Will this be provided? How will it be done? Will it be left to individual candidates to decide what they want to do?
It is unfortunate that it must be considered but that might be a reflection of where politics stands at present.
If there were no other reason, it would end the storage costs. The Government needs to grasp this issue quickly. Faith in the electronic voting system has fallen apart. Unquestionably, we will have to continue with the tried and true system. I find nothing wrong with it. I have observed and contributed to political life for many years, both as a candidate and as that valued commodity, an election worker. The drama surrounding the count and voting system and how people finally get elected adds to the interest in politics. It can be described as a bloodsport but it is a bloodsport we in the profession enjoy, whether one is the victim or just on the sidelines. It shows how interested Irish people can get in elections. An instant result with the press of a button would make elections dull.
This was most unfortunate because the best reason for using electronic voting machines was ignored. We will have to look at this again. The sooner the Minister makes the decision on the electronic voting system, the better, given what we heard this morning about hackers and electronic voting machines in Holland .