Sinn Féin Housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin TD has called on Minister Murphy and the Minister of State John Paul Phelan to immediately issue written guidance to local authorities advising them to automatically transfer all new 2019/20 voter registrations onto the supplementary register is the election is to be held before the 15th of February.
Deputy Ó Broin said:
“Yesterday I wrote to the Department of Housing to ask if they intend to issue written guidance to all Local Authorities on the status of those individuals who have registered to vote since February 2019 but, if the election is held before the 15th of February, will not be included in the full register.
“There appears to be some confusion in Local Authorities over whether these voters can automatically be placed on the supplementary register by the Council or if they have to re-apply to go on the supplementary register.
“The Department must issue clear guidance on this matter to ensure that no person is denied the right to vote because Varadkar decides to call an earlier than expected general election.
“We saw during the by-elections that voter turnout was down, the government shouldn’t seek to further disenfranchise potential voters by not including them on the supplementary register.”
