Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to have an opportunity to speak on this Bill and congratulate my colleague, Deputy Andrew Doyle, on bringing it before the House. It gives us an opportunity to focus on a very important part of our democratic system, voting. There is merit in setting out opening and closing times of polling stations because it will give people advance warning of the time when they should be there to cast their vote. I am not certain there should be provision made for people who arrive late or just in time and have to queue. That happens within the polling station. If a person is waiting to vote and the station has not closed I wonder whether provision should be made to accommodate them in those circumstances. We have all seen people turn up when the door has closed or as it closes. Presiding officers will generally make allowances and accommodate the person but not always.

I do not call for the simplification of voting systems. Democracy is sacred and there is a certain ceremony attached to it, as there should be. A basic tenet of democracy is that people vote. They do so after careful consideration. There has been a tendency recently for people to say it should be an open door and people should only vote if they see fit or feel fit to do so. That is nonsense. The voter has a responsibility to make a decision seriously and not cynically. Cynicism is dangerous in any democracy. European history demonstrates that being cynical does not solve any problems. Every time we cast a vote we must think about its consequences because we are choosing the people who will represent us in our legislative assembly for the foreseeable future. People can and do dismiss that, saying it is too complicated, it should be simpler and so on. The only simple thing about democracy is that if it fails the consequences are serious. We should recognise the importance of ensuring that people are registered to vote.

I cannot understand how with modern technology and scientific advances it is not possible to have an accurate electoral register. People have made suggestions such as the use of PPS numbers. An Post is the one organisation that has daily access to almost every house in the country. It is in a better position to monitor the electoral register than anybody else. Some interventions made in the registers have made them worse. In some cases, swathes of people have been taken off the register, in others, people who voted a year ago no longer have a vote. Somebody will say a random sample was taken but because the person was on holidays he or she has been taken off the register. That is ridiculous.

People have mentioned the introduction of a list system. I am profoundly opposed to such a ridiculous system. The fact that it is used across Europe is no recommendation whatsoever. On the list system people who could not get elected would be elected to public office on the basis of a party's or another person's performance. The system has no merit at all. There is only one system, the one where an individual votes for an individual, whether that individual is in a party or not. The system for replacement, such as that in the European Parliament, is daft. It is ridiculous that somebody on the list automatically takes up a position without being elected at all. It is crazy.

By minimising the importance of voting we diminish the importance of democracy. We should never do that. Consider some of the countries that do not have democracy, where the United Nations and others have sent many of us to monitor elections. There we can see the importance that so many who had no democracy attach to the act of voting. They will queue up all morning for hours before the polling station opens at 7 a.m. and remain there until 12 o'clock the following day in order to cast their votes because they regard it as very important to participate in the act of nominating the person to represent them. It may well be that the person elected does not represent the people to the best of his or her ability, or as he or she should, or does not act not in the best interests of the nation but the people can change that decision at the next opportunity. We should always allow for the opportunity to change.

We need to ensure that access to polling stations is dealt with in a meaningful way. During the most recent election I visited a polling station in my constituency. The polling booth was in the porch of the school with no lighting or proper facilities for privacy. It was ridiculous.

I again thank my colleague for giving me the opportunity to speak on these issues.

See this speech in context