Compulsory voter registration

[green]

As recently introduced in NI:

http://www.u.tv/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=88269&pt=n

Northern Ireland's chief electoral officer is to refer 50 people who have failed to sign the voting register to the police.

Douglas Bain said he is determined to stop those who fail to comply with the law.

He said failure to provide the required details was punishable by a £1,000 fine.

What do you think? Is the infringement on personal liberties too high a price to pay for the slight possibility of increasing voter turnout? I sure as hell think so.

[Pidge]

How is it an infringement on personal liberties? (I'm not making a point, I just don't get the argument that you're making.)

[newswire]

I cant for the life of me understand why we are not registered at birth and that it is tied into our PPS number.

I would have a system that would work through the PPS system - if a person dies you are are removed from the registry - If you go abroad - your employment activity would stop therefore your name should be frozen on the system, then you simply reactivate it by filling out a form when you return. Simple really. The current system is open to so much abuse

[Gimpanzee]

I cant for the life of me understand why we are not registered at birth and that it is tied into our PPS number.

I would have a system that would work through the PPS system - if a person dies you are are removed from the registry - If you go abroad - your employment activity would stop therefore your name should be frozen on the system, then you simply reactivate it by filling out a form when you return. Simple really. The current system is open to so much abuse

Problems with the pps number system is that voting is based on address - you won't necessarily live in the same constitunecy you were born in. the addresses that are associated with the pps number are not reliable enough to be used. And there were estimates of at least half a million changes of addresses p.a. in the state so it is not just a small problem

It has been looked at - particularly during the electoral amendment bill in 2006 and it is not feasible

[green]

How is it an infringement on personal liberties? (I'm not making a point, I just don't get the argument that you're making.)

I feel that those (and I'm not among them) who do not wish to take time off work/college/school to fill out forms, get Garda clearance and make the (sometimes very long) journey to their local authority office during opening times to register to vote should not be penalised with the threat of a heavy fine and a criminal record.

If they don't want to go to the trouble to vote, that should be respected. If they don't want to go to the trouble to register, that too should be respected, particularly if they feel themselves unlikely to vote after registering.

I prefer newswire's idea, though I'm not sure it's legal under data protection legislation, or the Motor Voter initiative in the States a few years back, where applicants for driving licences were automatically registered (with their consent) when their licences were issued. If those aren't feasible, we could (shock!) treat adults like adults and allow them to make their own decisions on whether, and how much, to engage with the political process. Coercion is not the way to go.

[Gimpanzee]

duplicate+

[newswire]

I cant for the life of me understand why we are not registered at birth and that it is tied into our PPS number.

I would have a system that would work through the PPS system - if a person dies you are are removed from the registry - If you go abroad - your employment activity would stop therefore your name should be frozen on the system, then you simply reactivate it by filling out a form when you return. Simple really. The current system is open to so much abuse

Problems with the pps number system is that voting is based on address - you won't necessarily live in the same constitunecy you were born in. the addresses that are associated with the pps number are not reliable enough to be used. And there were estimates of at least half a million changes of addresses p.a. in the state so it is not just a small problem

It has been looked at - particularly during the electoral amendment bill in 2006 and it is not feasible.

Plus it would probably require legislation to allow the pps to be used for this purpose

That's it democracy is too much of a headache.....must be time to scrap elections altogether!

[Gimpanzee]

I'm only telling you what came out of the dáil debates (it is raised repeatedly). If the politicians, who have a vested interest in it happening are convinced by the submissions from the DSFA and the D of the Env then it does indicate that it is not that simple...

BTW - the other thing is that NI it was introduced from scratch - not a case of trying to bend an existing system into the form required

[NeilW]

If they don't want to go to the trouble to vote, that should be respected. If they don't want to go to the trouble to register, that too should be respected, particularly if they feel themselves unlikely to vote after registering.

But aren't they facing a fine because they chose to register but failed / wont provide a signature? They have every right to not register or to register and not vote but given the history of electoral fraud in Northern Ireland and the fact that they chose to register I'm afraid I have little sympathy with them if they are fined for refusing to provide a signature.

[Combine]

Wonder how this will affect the nationalist/unionist vote patterns/