As voters head back to the polls today to have their second say on the Lisbon Treaty, it seems many have either binned their polling cards or never received them due to new procedures.
It is the responsibility of the Department of the Environment to print and distribute the polling cards for the first time, but Mayo deputy John O’Mahony has claimed there have been problems.
The Fine Gael deputy says he has been inundated with calls from eligible voters claiming they have no polling cards.
However, when contacted on Wednesday a Department spokesperson said he was confident every voter would receive his/her polling card in the post by Thursday (yesterday ).
He confirmed that in the past local authorities distributed polling cards to everyone on the register of electors, but this time local authorities sent a copy of the register of electors to designated printers which printed the polling cards and a booklet which were delivered by An Post. Dep O’Mahoney said on Wednesday there were still some cards in the post.
“Usually city and county councils are responsible for printing of the cards. However, this year the Fianna Fáil/Green Government broke with tradition and decided that the Department of Environment would print and distribute all cards centrally. This was done on the basis that it would be ‘more efficient’,” added Dep O’Mahony.
“However instead it has been a disaster. There were delays at both the printing and distribution stage due to the volumes involved, and many people have not yet received a polling card.
“To make matters worse, apparently many polling cards have been inadvertently binned. The polling card comes attached to a booklet which gives the text of the proposed change to the Constitution. This changed format has caused huge confusion with voters who have assumed it is just another information leaflet and have simply thrown it away.
“This mess up could and should have been avoided and, even at this late stage, the Environment Minister must come out and say that provided voters bring relevant ID with them to the polling centre, they don’t need their polling cards to vote.”
The Department of the Environment spokesperson said he was confident every eligible voter would have a polling card by this morning (Friday ).
