Read more:Emigrants should have a vote in upcoming general election
With the election date in Ireland finally set for February 25, Irish people are gearing up for what is one of the most significant general elections in the history of the State. Party manifestos have been drawn up, campaigns are being rolled out and soon the entire country will be littered with election posters as every available lamppost in Ireland becomes a platform for a political mantra.
But as people cast their ballot papers, a universal murmur will echo around the world as the countless number of Irish emigrant voices go unaccounted.
Under current Irish law, if you are an Irish citizen living abroad you cannot be entered onto the register of electors. Postal votes are limited to Irish diplomats and army officials stationed abroad.
Hundreds of thousands of emigrants who have recently left Irish shores forfeited their right to vote in elections at home upon departure. For people who have emigrated within the last 18 months, and remain registered at their old address, the only option available is to fly home to vote.
Here in the U.S. citizens abroad are afforded the right to vote by postal/absentee ballots. The U.S. government devised a special program to support those who are abroad during elections. The Federal Voting Assistance Program states that U.S. citizens can vote absentee in any election for federal office if the citizen is 18 years or older.
In the U.K., citizens abroad can vote in both general and European elections for up to 15 years after moving abroad, as long as the citizen is registered to vote.
Germany, Spain, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are just a few of the other countries that offer their expatriates the right to vote.
Many argue that citizens living abroad forgo their right to vote and should not have a say in the future of a country where they no longer pay taxes.
Kevin Dillon, originally from Sallins, Co. Kildare, and now living in Washington, D.C., agrees with this sentiment.
“I don't believe that Irish emigrants should have a vote in Dail (parliament) elections. We do not pay taxes to the state and do not have to live directly with the repercussions of our electoral decisions,” he told the Irish Voice.
Despite this, Dillon does regret missing out on polling day at home, but reflects that this is the existence of an immigrant.
“I am a little annoyed at missing out on a lot of things in Irish life but that is the tragedy of immigration, the price we pay for being Paddys on the road. It's annoying when you have to leave by necessity more than choice,” he says.
Originally from Crumlin, Co. Dublin, Lyndsey Fay made the move to Canada 16 months ago as a result of the downturn and is frustrated she cannot vote.
“Personally, I think it's disgraceful that we can't vote. Probably because I see myself as a 'temporary immigrant' in that I intend to return home in the next few years, and so I believe I should have a say in the forming of the next government, because the main reason that I'm currently living abroad is due to the failings of the current government, ” she told the Irish Voice.
Fay made the point that modern technology means that Irish emigrants are very informed about the situation at home.
“I feel that this diaspora is in a different position to previous generations. Modern technology and instant information allow us to be informed of the up to the minute happenings at home. So the disconnect that may have existed before between expat and home no longer exists, “ Fay said.
“I know that some people use this argument of disconnect to undermine my right to vote. However, I am still a citizen of Ireland and have only been out of the country for just over a year. How disconnected could I be? Who is to say that you or I aren't as well informed as some Irish citizens living at home who will vote?”
Leaving Ireland at the end of this week, Rebecca Glynn is heading to Australia like so many other Irish. With people more politically aware than ever, she is aggravated to be losing her vote.
“It's particularly frustrating considering the fact that this upcoming election is the most critical in the history of the state,” she says.
“It's of the utmost importance that the Irish people exercise their right to elect a competent government that can pull us out of mess that we are currently in.”
Like the thousands of Irish leaving, Glynn is doing so out of necessity, with the hope that Ireland’s economy will improve in her absence.
“I am traveling abroad in the hope that the economic climate will be more favorable by the time I return. How can I ensure that will happen if I can't exercise my democratic right to elect the individuals into power who can make that happen?” Glynn asks.
Patrick Flanagan, a master’s candidate at the John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Maryland, believes that not all Irish emigrants living abroad should have the right to vote, given the significant number of people worldwide who hold citizenship.
“Such widespread political franchise could significantly affect the electoral system in Ireland as in theory there would be more Irish voters outside of Ireland than in Ireland,” he maintains.
Instead Flanagan believes that those who recently left Irish shores should be afforded the right to vote.
“What I would like to see is the right of recent Irish emigrants within five years of non-residency to vote in their local constituency, the reason being is that it is quite possible for an Irish citizen to return home within five years, so they should have a choice in who is elected into power,” he maintains.
Despite the widespread opinion, the fact remains that Irish emigrant votes will go unaccounted in the momentous election.
While many may be tempted to literally pay the price and fly home to cast their vote, hundreds of thousands of others voices will be omitted.
During Ireland’s heyday, the government spent almost $70 million on a Dutch designed electronic voting system which was later scrapped without a single vote being cast.
Just like the abandoned e-voting system, Irish emigrant voices will become obsolete on polling day, as their say in the country’s future goes unaccounted.
Read more:Emigrants should have a vote in upcoming general election
14 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.sirpeter | Feb 04, 2011, 08:14 PM EST
I repeat..Well they can't ..Never will...Too bad...Have a nice day.Get over it.
sirpeter | Feb 04, 2011, 08:11 PM EST
Georgybolix..Anything you say is just pure rubbish.You are not even Irish you fat toad. You don't even live here..Who the fu*k would want to listen to you. I don't know have you noticed this ya thick head,but on his topic nobody is talking to you. Stick that up you're racist mass immigration cakehole. ha ha
Downunderyan | Feb 04, 2011, 06:45 PM EST
The article states that Australia and other countries offer their expatriates the right to vote - voting in Australia is actually compulsory and one is required to vote or be fined for not doing so, no matter what the excuse. As regards the argument that only taxpayers should vote, many residents inIreland may not pay taxes due to their financial circumstances but they still have a vote. In the past, not everybody was allowed to vote, only property owners and taxpayers, the more properties one owned the more votes one had. Are we advocating a return to that iniquitous system? It plagued Northern Ireland up until recently keeping Catholics who didn't own property out of the electoral system.
GeorgeDillon | Feb 04, 2011, 02:04 PM EST
sirpeter aka antoman: Readers want to see an exchange of ideas here. You apparently have none. No one wants your kind of empty abuse, it's just stupid. It's neither entertaining nor instructive. Crawl away back to Fianna Fail HQ, they need all the election workers they can find. Leave people who have ideas and information exchange them here--you just don't belong.
sirpeter | Feb 04, 2011, 06:51 AM EST
Georgy ..The goofs in Dublin know where you are,and they are glad as to where you are.
GeorgeDillon | Feb 04, 2011, 02:33 AM EST
The claim that there are 3 million Irish passports outside Ireland is utter unsustainable. It comes from the Irish Foreigh Ministry. How do they know? They are notoriously sloppy and lazy with statistics. How can they know where a particular Irish passport holder is at any given time? To take an example, I hold an Irish passport. Do the goofs in Dublin know where I am? Can they say whether I am in Ireland or in New Guinea? Of course not. Yet we are asked to believe that these jerks know how many Irish citizens are abroad, when they don't even know how many Chinese are in Dublin!
GeorgeDillon | Feb 04, 2011, 02:22 AM EST
Nicole--What you say is nonsense. Your ID sounds Italian. I assume you know that Italians abroad get to vote--Italy is a normal country, not Leprechaunland. Your reference "there are 35 million Americans who claim Irish decent (US Census)" is uninformed. On the United States census you list as many ethnic origins as you like. People can fill in: Irish, Italian, Scottish, French..." or any number of nationalities. Well over 20 million tick "Italian" as one of their ethnic heritages--but the Italian govt does not use that as an excuse to deny the vote to their citizens. In any case it is utterly inane on your part to claim that listing "Irish" as one of your ancestors' ethnicities is a statement of Irish citizenship, even less of a predictor of the intention to vote in an election in a foreign country.
sirpeter | Feb 03, 2011, 10:03 PM EST
Well they can't ..never will...Too bad...Have a nice day
NicoleGiosta | Feb 03, 2011, 09:49 PM EST
Theory? According to a recent article in the Irish Times (Jan 27th), there are 3 million Irish passports outside of Ireland. Thus, if all emigrants where allowed to vote, and did, then this would surely have a significant effect on any Irish election. I guess the "theory" in Mr. Flanagan's argument comes in on the fact that emigrants of other countries don't exercise this vote too frequently. Moreover, if there are 35 million Americans who claim Irish decent (US Census), and given that an Irish passport is obtainable through a grandparent - if even 1/6 of Irish-Americans can, and do, exercised this right - then, in theory, there would be more Irish voters in the US than in Ireland! The next question is, how many eligible-Irish passport holders, and thus emigrant voters, are there in the UK, continental Europe and Australia ...
GeorgeDillon | Feb 03, 2011, 01:09 PM EST
The guy Flanagan says "in theory there would be more Irish voters outside of Ireland than in Ireland”. What "theory" is he going by? Does he know the total number of Irish citizens in the world? How can he know that? Does the Irish government keep records of how many Irish citizens are abroad? Ya gotta be joking--these jerks don't even know how many Poles are in Ireland! Have some sense, Flanagan, or you'll never graduate.
GeorgeDillon | Feb 03, 2011, 01:06 PM EST
Note how the Irish bring their narrow-minded bigotry with them when they leave their country. This guy Kevin Dillon--happily no relation--whines that the Irish abroad don't pay tax and therefore don't deserve a vote. I guess he's unaware of the 100 or so countries, places like Ecuador and COlombia, which view citizenship as a right and privilege, regardless of how much taxes one pays, and accordingly organize voting rights for their citizens throughout the world. I bet guys like Dillon would laugh their smarmy laugh at Ireland being compared to "Third World" countries. Well I'll tell them--Ecuador, Colombia etc are a long shot more democratic than Leprechaunland. And if only taxpayers should vote (Dillon is obviously ignorant that this--"one man one vote"-- was one of the issues which started the conflagration in the North in the 1960s) does Dillon then deny the vote to folks who are unemployed, or elderly, or sick, and who therefore don't pay taxes? There's no doubt about it, the Irish produce a higher percentage of whining creeps than any other nationality.
Selouscout | Feb 03, 2011, 12:01 PM EST
"Kevin Dillon, originally from Sallins, Co. Kildare, and now living in Washington, D.C., agrees with this sentiment." This guy mentions that those who have left Ireland do not deserve to vote as they would not have to live with the consequences of their vote. This is utter nonsense. Those who made the really bad decisions that caused so many to have to leave also do not have to pay any cost of their inept decisions. It suits them to keep the status quo.
Fightin69th | Feb 03, 2011, 08:45 AM EST
If they would let the exiles vote, then there would be more "Mail-in" ballots than Ballots cast almost
LoyalCitizen | Feb 03, 2011, 07:56 AM EST
Irish Politicians have been falsifying the Irish voting system for over a decade by using opinions, which will hide the crime. It does not matter who votes. What we need is a police force that works first.