Electoral Commission to examine whether voting age should be lowered

Kenneth Fox

The Independent Electoral Commission is set to research whether it is appropriate to lower the voting age in Ireland.

The group's annual research programme will also look at the use of election posters, and whether byelections should be scrapped.

Reducing the voting age to 17 has been included in the programme for Government.

Speaking to Newstalk, Fianna Fáil Senator Malcolm Byrne has campaigned on the matter for years, and explains why he thinks it is the right call.

"The debate is around what age is it appropriate that we would trust somebody to have a say in their local elections or at national elections?"

As The Irish Times reports, the requests were set out in a letter from Minister for Housing and Local Government Darragh O’Brien to the commission’s chairwoman, Ms Justice Marie Baker, on July 19th.

While it is to consult the Minister, an Oireachtas committee and others, ultimately the research it decides to undertake is a decision for the commission’s members.

The requests made by Mr O’Brien arise from commitments in the Programme for Government.

These include an examination of the possibility of replacing byelections with an alternate list system – one where candidates would be required to provide a list of people who could be co-opted to fill a vacancy should it arise.

Such a system is in operation for European elections and bringing it in for Dáil elections would remove the need for byelections. Mr O’Brien told Ms Baker he would welcome inclusion of the issue in the commission’s research programme.

In a statement from the Commission they said ultimately: "While we will be consulting with the Joint Oireachtas Committee, the Minister and others as appropriate, the decision on what research An Coimisiún Toghcháin proposes for each year is a matter for the members of our Commission to decide."