VotingRights.ie executive committee member Emma DeSouza has an article on electoral reform in thejournal.ie. Prompted by the November general election’s turnout of 59.7%, the lowest in over a century, she asks, “with an average of four-in-10 registered voters opting out of political participation, how healthy is Ireland’s democracy?:
Emma suggests several potential causes of the low turnout, including the public’s disillusionment and distrust of the political system, and barriers to voting such as a lack of access to postal votes and voter information.
Among the solutions she proposes are “a national auto-enrolment register, advance voting up to three weeks before the election, overseas voting, a strong civics education program in schools and greater local engagement.”
Emma concludes:
Ireland has one of the most restrictive electoral systems globally when it comes to extending the franchise to citizens outside the state and domestically operates a sluggish, outdated system that places the burden on the voter – not the state. The low turnout in the general election indicates a worrying detachment from representative politics and requires urgent intervention. However, considering the failure of previous governments to advance electoral reform, these much-needed changes seem unlikely to materialise.
Read the whole article at thejournal.ie.
Voting Rights.ie 
Very well said my Emma. I very much agree with her analysis. What also is disturbing is the complacency of those in power in the Dáil that everything is fine. This complacency is very dangerous given the attempts for instance by the Russian Dictatorship to destabilize democracy and the rise of anti democratic far right groups in many countries. We should be looking to enhance and grow our democracy as that is the best way to safe guard Irish democracy for now and the future.
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