Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 35:

In page 16, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: “(d) the level of participation in elections in the Higher Education constituency, including the collection of quantitative and qualitative data in relation to voters and their preferences,”.

Again, I will be quite brief because we still have a number of amendments to get through. The amendment relates to what the Minister has been discussing, namely, the potential role of the Electoral Commission. The role as initially envisaged did not have sufficient focus on Seanad Éireann. In this Bill, the remit is still quite narrow. The amendments provide three suggestions for how we might widen the remit of the Electoral Commission. One relates to not just looking to the registration or the electoral events but to looking explicitly at the level of participation in the elections, including the collection of quantitative and qualitative data about voters and their preferences.

We suggest including in page 16: "The Commission shall, after each electoral event to which this Act applies, prepare and publish...a report on the administration of [it and so forth]. We also suggest in amendment No. 39, "measures to increase the level of voter registration in the Higher Education constituency, including a mechanism for...automatic enrolment". We have discussed the issue outlined in amendment No. 39 but amendment No. 35 is at the core of what we propose, namely, the idea that we would give a remit to the Electoral Commission to look at the level of participation and to actively encourage wider participation.

I am conscious that my amendments Nos. 36 and 37 have been ruled out of order, but they also offer something that is clearly missing from the Bill, namely, a mandate for the Electoral Commission to look to those next steps. The Minister seemed to indicate that the next steps in Seanad reform may emerge from the Electoral Commission. However, the commission has not been given a mandate to look at policy or legislative options to widen the electoral franchise. Neither does it have responsibility to look at the steps that might be taken to ensure we achieve the ultimate goal of universal suffrage for Seanad Éireann, so that every person would have a vote and a say in the election of this House. The implementation of the Manning report was formerly a policy of both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in the previous Oireachtas. The Minister has signalled that it is his intention that the Electoral Commission will contribute to further reform, but the remit in the Bill is still quite narrow.