Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

That is a function an electoral commission should capably be able to take over. The independence of an electoral commission would be key.

Others have also commented on the Constitutional Convention, of which I was proud to be part. In May and June 2013 the convention debated the issue of Dáil reform and as part of that, considered the question of an electoral commission. There was a 97% vote in favour of the establishment of an electoral commission and very clear guidelines were given to the convention by Professor Michael March from Trinity, in particular, on how one can establish an electoral commission. Others spoke about the practice in other jurisdictions. He pointed out that the Australia electoral commission is a good model. It takes on those functions that the UCD political scientists and lawyers talked about. I was interested to note it is under the overall direction of a retired judge, who is the chairperson, and the Australia electoral commissioner has tended to be an academic or public servant and a non-judicial member, usually from the Australia statistics office - it is a tripartite function. It is an interesting model and seems particularly strong.

The UK model is somewhat different. It keeps the administration of elections effectively under local control, something which the UCD report of 2008 examined. One should not seek to reform things that do not need to be reformed. There is a strength, as the UCD report points out, to having some local role in the administration of elections. We have had some good and strong administration locally over the years. When one is critical of issues around us, for example, the distribution of surpluses and recounts, about which I have had personal experience, one should also recognise that we have a great level of expertise at that level in local authorities.

In terms of registration of parties, that is an issue in which I have a particular interest.

I represented a political party that took an appeal under the very archaic existing system. Others, including the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, have spoken about the 19th century model of voter registration. The statutory framework for the registration of political parties was set up in 1963 but it is quite archaic. The registrar of political parties, who is ex officiothe Clerk of the Dáil, makes the initial decision, but there is an appeal board to which I appealed on behalf of my client. Unfortunately, we lost. A judge of the High Court takes an appeal and he or she has to consider whether the political entity which wishes to consider it a political party is organised, has at least 300 recorded members and fulfils a number of other criteria. The party I represented was the Cannabis Legalisation Party. I was a barrister in practice representing it. It was decided that the group was not sufficiently organised to qualify as a party. There is a question mark over why one needs to have such a procedure in place. There are cumbersome aspects to the process of voter registration but, similarly, if one starts to look at any of the many other aspects about which an electoral commission should have jurisdiction, one finds equally cumbersome and probably unnecessary impediments exist. There are many complex areas we must examine.
In terms of voter registration, I did love the idea of the 16th birthday or 18th birthday card reminding the individual citizen he or she is entitled to vote. Others questioned whether that could be done. Of course the President currently sends a card to everyone who reaches his or her 100th birthday, so perhaps that is the model we should consider. The Minister of State, Deputy Ann Phelan, has reminded me that Australia has compulsory voting. That is something I do not personally support but, again, if we were to consider the wholesale reform envisaged in the introduction of an electoral commission, that is something that could form part of the debate. We could have a very good debate in this House. The Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, has said he will come to all issues with an open mind. However, I do not see anyone clamouring for compulsory voting in this country. The establishment of an independent electoral commission to take on the functions that are outlined in the 2008 report and that have been so wholeheartedly endorsed by the Constitutional Convention and by the Minister today would have cross-party and general societal support. I am delighted to support the motion and that we can all work together to ensure it happens, all going well, by the end of 2015.