The Union of Students of Ireland (USI) will campaign for electoral reform, including lowering the voting age to 16 and making the registration process easier
USI’s delegate voted today at the union’s national congress for a motion mandating the union to fight for electoral reform.
The motion was proposed by Craig McHugh, USI’s vice-president for the Dublin Region and seconded by Callahan Commons, Dublin City University Students’ Union (DCUSU) vice-president for Academic Affairs.
Speaking at congress, McHugh said that we have a “broken, messy voter registration system. For too long, we have dealt with a system that is confusing, time-consuming and discouraging”.
“Voter registration should be automatic – we need a permanent, established Electoral Commission. We are proposing the extension of democratic rights because it is the right thing to do.”
The motion mandates the vice-president for equality and citizenship and the vice-president for campaigns “to put a campaign together to push for electoral reform which includes but is not limited to, votes at 16, automatic voter registration and the establishment of an electoral commission.”
The proposal adds that congress understands “the benefit that automatic voter registration would provide to Ireland’s electoral system and political engagement.”
Recognising some of the issues young people face in voting, the motion acknowledges that “a number of students were not able to vote in the 2020 General Election due to the election being called for a date, a week ahead of the publication of this year’s electoral register.”
At the time of the general election, there was significant controversy over the exclusion of many students from the electoral register.
Unions across the country mobilised in the last week of the election to register students ahead of the election, amid uncertainty over whether voters registered in the last year would automatically make it onto the register of electors by February 8th.
The register of electors does not automatically update until February 15th, meaning that many students had to re-register if they wanted to vote.
In January, speaking to The University Times, USI President Lorna Fitzpatrick said there was “no clarity” on whether the government will instruct local authorities to automatically transfer those who have registered in the last year onto the list.
“The fact of the matter is that we need to have some level of clarity on this”, Fitzpatrick said.
“And the government needs to take action on this, to ensure that everybody has the chance to have their voice heard. People registered to vote in good faith, and to have their voices cut out because of a couple of days is ridiculous as far as we’re concerned”, she added.
