Thread by @gavreilly

THREAD: Are you registered to vote for #ge2020? And, even if you think you are, are you actually?

Here's how to get yourself sorted:

First off: as a starting position, the register of electors for #ge2020 will be the register for 2019-20, not the one for 2020-21 - which only kicks in on February 15. As you might know, this is proving problematic for more recent registrants. We'll come back to this.

However, helpfully, the register that applies for #ge2020 is the same as the one that applied for the European and local elections.

So if you changed your registration in time for that - signing up for the first time, or maybe changing address - you're already good to go.

This is because any records added (or changed) to a supplementary register, ahead of any election, are effectively made permanent straight afterward. The records that applied on polling day for the European and local elections, are the ones from which we start in #ge2020.

This is where the obvious link comes in:
checktheregister.ie

The records you'll see there are the 'Draft Register of Electors for 2020-21'. This incorporates the most recent supplementary register of electors too - so if your records are there, and correct, you're all set.

(If you're in one of the constituencies that had a by-election in November, you're also set - any changes to the register for those elections will also still prevail for the general election.)

People only need to act if they weren't on the register for their most recent poll.

So: what do you need to do? Well, you might have thought you were already sorted - perhaps you turned 18 recently and had already submitted your registration.

But this registration, technically, was only for the *next* register - the one after February 15 - NOT the current one.

This seems to have highlighted a grey area. Some local authorities (specifically the Dublin ones who have a more modern registration system available) are able to fudge it, and treat your registration for 2020-21 as being effective for 2020.

Others don't feel they can do so.

The Department of Housing was asked for advice on this yesterday - and the advice of the Attorney General was sought - but its advice to councils is non-committal.

The law neither explicitly allows councils to process registrations early, nor forbids them from doing so.

In short: if you're one of the people who sought to register *since* the last poll in your constituency, you should call the council, ask for the Franchise Section, and ask them if they'll consider forms for 2020-21 as being effective for the new #ge2020 supplementary register.

If they're not - or if you haven't registered before now, but would like to vote in #ge2020 - you haven't got much time. The deadline for getting included in the new supplementary register is the close of business on Wednesday 22 January... that's a week from today.

So:
- First-time voters want form RFA2.
- Voters who need to change address, it's form RFA3.
- If your records are wrong, form RFA1.
- Previous registrants who are since become Irish citizens*, get hold of form RFA5.

All those forms are available here:
checktheregister.ie/PublicPages/Ap…

(* On this note: only citizens of Ireland and the United Kingdom are entitled to vote in Irish general elections; not only that but you must be ordinarily resident within the Republic in order to vote. Citizens living full-time outside the State cannot vote.)

All of the aforementioned forms will need to be stamped by a Garda, so you'll want to act quickly in order to get them processed and sent back to your council before Wednesday.

If you're looking for a *postal* vote, you'll need to act even more quickly - because the deadline for getting one is TOMORROW evening, Thursday 16 January.

The circumstances in which you can qualify for a postal vote are very narrow:

If you can't present at a polling station yourself because of special needs - such as disability or illness - you will need form PVS1.

If you're away for work (including private sector) or college, or in prison, it's form PVS2.

checktheregister.ie/PublicPages/Ap…

Similarly if you are likely to be in a hospital or nursing home, or similar institution, you can be added to a Special Voters List using form SVS1 (checktheregister.ie/appforms/SVS1%…).

But again, you'll need it completed and returned before close of business tomorrow evening.

More information on all of this rigmarole is available at the underrated Citizens Information website: citizensinformation.ie/en/government_…

In summary:
- Postal or special votes deadline is tomorrow, Jan 16
- Other registration deadline is Wed 22 Jan.

#ge2020