Seanad debates
Thursday, 25 September 2014
Adjournment Matters
Seanad Elections
2:00 pm
Feargal Quinn (Independent)
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The Minister of State is welcome to the House, particularly in respect of this problem. My attention was drawn to this matter by Mr. Robbie Sinnott, who is in the Visitors' Gallery. He is visually impaired.
The Taoiseach has declared his intention to respond to the referendum on the abolition of the Seanad by introducing minimal reform of the university seats prior to the next election. Graduates of third level institutions will be entitled to vote for six Senators if the planned Seanad electoral (university members) (amendment) Bill is enacted prior to the next election. However, graduates who suffer from impaired vision are only able to vote by asking someone else to vote for them, as the Constitution decrees that elections for these Seanad seats must be by postal vote. Therefore, a blind person must disclose his or her intention to a third party and rely on the third party to vote as requested. This is contrary to Article 18.5° of the Constitution, which guarantees a secret ballot. How can the dilemma be solved? The answer can be found in modern technology. The Constitution declares that the Seanad election must be a postal ballot, but that could include e-mail. I understand that most graduates, even those who are visually impaired, are capable of using e-mail, and I urge the Minister of State to explore this solution.
Some 53,000 people have extreme visual impairment severe in Ireland. I do not know how many third-level graduates are included in that figure, but the proposed Seanad electoral (university members) (amendment) Bill could be an early first step towards a solution to a challenge that will face the State in later years if we are to be a society that treats all the citizens equally. I urge the Government to consider the problems that this entails.
Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this issue. I am replying on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly. A fundamental principle of our electoral system is voting by secret ballot. This is enshrined in the Constitution for Dáil, Seanad and presidential elections. For local and European elections and for referendums, the provisions on secrecy are set out in primary legislation.
Arrangements for the holding of elections and for registered voters to cast their ballots are all built on this principle. The electoral Acts make special provision for certain voters and, over the years, improvements have been introduced aimed at making the voting process as accessible and inclusive as possible. These include provision for voting at an alternative polling station if a person's local polling station is inaccessible. Voters who cannot go to their polling station due to a physical disability or physical illness may avail of postal voting or the special voting arrangements provided in hospitals and nursing homes. The placing of photographs and political party emblems on ballot papers and the display of a large-print copy of the ballot paper in polling stations are aimed at assisting visually impaired voters in particular.
Special provision is made for voters whose sight is so impaired that they are unable to vote without assistance at a polling station. Such voters may vote with the assistance of a companion or the presiding officer, as they choose. While this arrangement meets the needs of many voters, it may not meet the needs of all, and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government is committed to improving these arrangements. Our commitment to enhance access to voting by persons who are blind is stated in the national disability strategy.
In June of this year, officials of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government participated in a National Disability Authority trial of a range of options for voting by visually impaired persons. These included the use of tactile voting templates. The report on the trial is awaited from the authority.
That is an outline of the position generally. Seanad elections are somewhat different in that voting does not take place in polling stations. Article 18.5° of the Constitution provides that the election of Members of Seanad Éireann shall be by secret postal ballot. Senator Quinn, having been elected by the graduates of the National University of Ireland on many occasions, is no doubt well versed in the electoral procedures that operate for the constituency. I am a member of that constituency. At an election, each registered graduate is sent, by registered post, an envelope containing voting documentation, including a ballot paper and a declaration of identity form. These arrangements apply to all voters in the NUI constituency.
Members of the House will be aware that in February 2014 the general scheme of the Seanad electoral (university members) (amendment) Bill was published for consultation. There was a very useful debate in this House on its proposed provisions in March. The general scheme is part of the legislative process to implement the 1979 constitutional amendment to extend the Seanad franchise to graduates of institutions of higher education in the State that heretofore did not form part of the Seanad university constituencies.
As part of the consultation process on the general scheme, a number of submissions were received - 22 in total. One was about voting arrangements for visually impaired persons. It recommended that consideration be given to allowing all those on the register for the university constituencies the option of voting by e-mail. It is an interesting idea. However, fundamental issues arise concerning whether e-mail would meet the constitutional requirement of conducting Seanad elections by secret postal ballot. Notwithstanding this point, the technical feasibility of introducing such a system would have to be a consideration. Our experience with electronic voting in Ireland was a not particularly good one.
Another idea proposed in the submission was to allow voters with a visual impairment the option of using a cardboard or plastic template which would be placed over the ballot paper. This template would be in a format readable by a person with a visual impairment. The National Disability Authority trials of these templates were already mentioned. The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government looks forward to receiving the findings of this research and will give them due consideration. The Minister is open to ideas that can improve upon the arrangements currently in place for voters with a visual impairment. The Department must be mindful that any proposed reforms have to be consistent with existing constitutional provisions and must be capable of being deployed usefully in practice.
Feargal Quinn (Independent)
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I appreciate the reply. This is a challenge, and the question is whether the Government can solve the challenge. I am delighted to hear that there is research going on and I am delighted to hear some steps are being taken. The first thing that must be done is to recognise the real difficulty there is for people who are blind and who cannot have a secret ballot without having somebody else vote for them. We are capable of solving that problem. The Minister of State has touched on one of two ways in which we can move in that direction. We do not have much time, on the assumption that the Seanad electoral (university members) (amendment) Bill will come before the House some time soon. I hope the Government will see that it is possible to do something to ensure that the large number of people - although a small number of graduates - who are visually impaired have this problem solved. These people have to take part in a postal vote at home and must ask someone else to open the envelope, tell them they want to vote for A, B and C and then not know whether it has happened. These people need to have a solution and I am delighted to hear the Government is working on it. I urge the Minister of State to move as fast and as securely as he can in order to make sure this improvement takes place.
Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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I will ensure the sentiments expressed will be conveyed. I will convey them personally to the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government on behalf of Senator Quinn.