7 days ago
Ireland does not satisfy international standard for election observation, group claims
The Government has been called on to reassess legislation around election observing after reported issues during the general election.
Non-governmental organisation Democracy Volunteers sent a group of observers to Dublin and Kildare to observe but said that while the Government and "many individual returning officers" are welcoming, some were not.
The group claimed Ireland does not fully meet the international standard for election observation as, in the case of a general election, observation is only possible where each individual returning officer gives their approval for it to go ahead.
As a result, election observation can, and sometimes is, prevented by local returning officers, said director of Democracy Volunteers, Dr John Ault.
"This is not an ideal situation as, despite the clear benefits of election observation, which the Irish Foreign Ministry contributes to around the world, as part of the EU and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) states, it does not fully allow observation of its own elections," said Dr Ault.
"We therefore call on the Irish Government to reassess its legalisation regarding election observation to allow domestic and international observers full access to the voting process."
Minister for housing and local government, James Browne, said his department actively seeks to facilitate the attendance of observers at any election or referendum whenever such requests are received.
Mr Browne said requests from Democracy Volunteers have been facilitated in the past, including the most recent general election.
The OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights undertook needs assessment missions in advance of the last four general elections, Mr Browne noted.
However, on these occasions it did not deploy full election-related missions with the last full mission taking place ahead of the general election in March 2007.
Responding to a question from People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Paul Murphy, Mr Browne said there are no plans at present to amend electoral law regarding election observation.
"The legislation is kept under ongoing review and my department will continue to engage with all organisations involved in observing elections with a view to facilitating any future requests to observe at Irish elections," said Mr Browne.
