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VOTING HAS FINALLY begun around the country in the referendum on the fiscal compact.
Ireland’s 3.13 million registered voters have the chance to cast their votes in hundreds of polling stations across Ireland’s 43 constituencies from 7 o’clock this morning.
Polls so far suggest that the referendum will pass: support for the Yes side had fallen slightly in the most recent polls at the weekend, but remains at around 60 per cent when undecideds are excluded. No campaigners point out that polls were proved wrong in votes on the Nice and Lisbon treaties in 2001 and 2008.
Turnout is expected to be between 50 and 60 per cent. Turnout in the last Lisbon treaty was 59 per cent, but bad weather and a large number of undecided voters in this referendum may lead to a lower turnout.
A copy of the Treaty has been delivered to every home in the country and households have also received the independent guide from the Referendum Commission which explains what the Treaty is about.
The first indications of the result are expected early on Friday afternoon with a full result later that day.
Where do I vote?
You should have received a polling card by now which will have the address of the polling station where you can go to cast your vote. Polling stations will be open between 7am and 10pm.
Do I need to bring the polling card with me?
You don’t need to bring your polling card with you to vote. You should, however, bring some valid form of personal identification like a passport or a driving licence. It won’t always be asked for, but if it is, you’ll need to show it.
Aside from passport or driving licence, types of acceptable ID include an employee identity card containing a photograph, a student identity card issued by an educational institution and with a photograph, a travel document containing a name and photograph, or a bank or savings or credit union book containing your address in the constituency. It’s also acceptable to show a cheque book, a cheque card, a credit card, a birth certificate or a marriage certificate, as long as it’s accompanied by another document which confirms your address in the constituency.
I never received a polling card. Can I still vote?
It depends. If you’re an Irish citizen, aged at least 18 and living in Ireland then you are entitled to vote, but you have to be on the electoral register. You can check whether you are or not on checktheregister.ie.
You’ll be asked to put in your province and the name of your local authority, as well as your name and address.
If for some reason you didn’t receive a polling card, don’t worry. You’ll still be allowed to vote as long as your name is on the register and you bring along identification.
I haven’t made up my mind yet. Where can I get more information?
Fine Gael, Sinn Féin, the Referendum Commission and the European Policy Centre all answered the most commonly-asked questions about the Treaty on TheJournal.ie yesterday, if you’re still looking for more information before you vote. There’s also this version of the Fiscal Compact rewritten in layman’s terms.
When will the votes be counted?
Counting the votes will start at 9 o’clock on Friday morning in 26 count centres around the country. The overall result will be announced from the central results centre in Dublin Castle and are expected by Friday evening.
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If you can’t be bothered to leave the house to vote, just txt the word ‘YES’ or ‘NO’ to 53231. Txts cost 25c with 20c going to Dáil xmas do.
its going to feel so good voting NO
My constitutional duty is done! I’m not telling you how to vote, just to get out and do it. Don’t succumb to cynicsm by thinking it doesn’t make a difference. It does. Every vote counts. People are still fighting and dying for the right to do something we take for granted and sometimes don’t bother our arse doing because the weather is too good/too bad or you might miss Corrie.
Just voted No. Don’t know where all this Yes propaganda is seeping in from, mostly everyone i’ve spoken to was voting No. Nice try RTE, but you may try harder, if there is a next time.
What did RTE do? Sorry i don’t watch T.V.
Use your right to vote! Doesn’t matter whether you know which way to vote. Go to your centre and tick one of them. Do not waste your vote. None of us really know the implications of either side but you can’t bitch, complain or have an opinion if you don’t vote!
This is insane, dont just “tick one of them” if you’ve no reasoning behind your vote.
Yes Sheila, just go in and blindly tick any box. How about actually thinking for yourself? Such blinkered acceptance of the ‘norm’ is partially why this country is in the mess it’s currently in.
The argument that people should be obliged to vote holds no weight. People have just as much right NOT to vote if they so wish. What if somebody doesn’t agree with our current system and the obvious paradigm it presents? What of the argument that people who consciously step outside of the system and refuse to validate it by not voting have EVERY right to complain about that very system as they are not complicit in allowing it to flourish and indeed complain about the people who actively engage with it and are responsible for electing the puppets who oversee the current farce that masquerades as freedom, fairness and democracy?
Indeed if someone is complicit in the election of these stooges, what right have THEY to give out about them?
There won’t be any kind of positive change if we continue to do the same thing over and over again. Then again, our collective actions clearly demonstrate there is no real will for change. The majority prefer to be sheepishly led as opposed to taking any individual responsibility, whether they admit it, or are even aware of it, or not.
John
While I see a lot of reasons for making an INFORMED choice in this and other such referenda I share some of your views regarding voting in parliamentary elections where the real agenda of the candidates and their parties is more in the interests of their corporate donors and supporters than the people who elect them.
You can be assured that, once elected, their less publicised promises to their financial backers and party advisors are of greater concern than the more openly stated though more readily broken promises to the electorate.
Vote No!
Just voted No! Regretting it now, (seriously, I am ;-) ;-) ;-) ) as I heard on the news that Eamon Gilmore said that the Govt won’t be propping up the banks anymore. He was responding to the financial regulator’s suggestion yesterday that the banks will need another €4-5 billion next year!
Do they think we’re f*cking thick? Coming out with statements like that on referendum day; immoral and it shows what low lifes they are!
It’s a pity we”ll have to wait on wikileaks to find out what his true view on this is!
Done. I have to say for one that I found it really hard to make my decision. There has been absolutely no coverage of this in the media, online or traditional. It has been really hard to get the information. ;)
Just voted and it was a NO!!!!
I would say if you don’t know which way to vote then don’t vote. Why would you vote if you have no opinion on it?
inform yourself to both sudes and make a decision!!
If you’re not sure just vote No!
You can make up your mind for the next referendum.
Out of curiosity, Sean, what happens if there is no second referendum? With only 12 signatories needed, it’s not like we’re essential to them.
Chris is right. Don’t just vote ‘no’ if you don’t understand it or aren’t sure, Sean. Rightly or wrongly, Europe ‘needed’ a second referendum from us for Lisbon. But they *do not* need a second one for this, as it doesn’t need to be ratified by everyone to come into effect.
There won’t be a second referendum, so make sure you’re happy with whatever way you vote, because the end result will have implications for us, either way.
It is nonsense to suggest that Ireland would be left out in the cold if this treaty is rejected. The estimated cost of a Greek exit exceeds €1 trillion and would bankrupt the ECB. An Irish exit/default would cost Europe a similar amount.
If we, sensibly, reject this treaty Noonan et al will be heading off to Brussels to put another shine on this poisoned chalice and it will be put before the Irish people again, as with Lisbon. Bruton has already left this cat out of the bag.
http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-25/dallara-says-greek-euro-exit-may-exceeed-1-trillion-euros.html
David McWilliams in yesterday’s Independent endorsed a No vote.
I respect his argument which is that Europe needs to deal with this.
McWilliams has been right on everything up to now.
It’s why I’m voting No.
Theres more than DMcW saying ‘No’
done, have to say there was a weird atmosphere is the polling station today.
I’ve just voted no i only know of 1 person voting yes, i predict 60/40 in favour of a No vote.. if your unsure vote No. you wouldn’t commit to anything else you were unsure of.
… you’d be committing to the No side and the results of that decision. If you’re unsure, probably better not to vote.
not really, by not voting you are having no say. if your not sure about changing our constitution say no i mean surely it is better to vote no and not make a change now than vote yes and risk making a bad decision that we can’t change ever. especially now that the eventual content of the fiscal treaty is unknown.
Agreed Caoimhe, the yes side are proposing a constitutional change and it falls to them to convince the electorate of the need for this change. If they have left you uncertain, you should vote no. Abstention on the basis of uncertainty is pointless. It serves the needs of yes side alone to contend otherwise.
My wife wants to vote yes and I want to vote no. I suggest we both stay away but she doesn’t get it.
I think she doesn’t trust me. She thinks I will sneak in later and vote No.
She’s right.
i was no my husband was yes.. so he said because we cancel each other vote out he wasnt gonna bother so “i win” :)
You guys need to get rid of the ‘his and her’ bath-towels and just use the one!
Voted no for my children, community and country.
I was real selfish. I voted NO for the pure enjoyment of it! I am now smugly grinning like a Fianna Failer at a race meeting…
I havent voted yet, but it will be a NO from me… and incase anyone wants to know why…because the government want me to say yes!!! im not letting them drag this wonderful country down anymore so my child can learn ‘how great he was’ in his History books 15 years from now!!
” NO from me… and incase anyone wants to know why…because the government want me to say yes!!! ” I sincerely hope your reasoning for voting is better informed than that. Yes or No, vote on the *issue* not on your attitude to the Government.
I havent voted yet but Im voting No!! My Da says id be stupid to believe the lies and should be voting Yes especially that i need state money in my situation! But we never agree Im still voting no!!
it was a nice morning to vote no
Treaty Voting info…of the day.
Oh i love those ‘of the day’ headlines.
yes James your yew vote will definitely guarantee continued investment in Ireland and job growth.
Voted yew for continued investment in Ireland and job creation.
was yew an option.. i didnt see it on my paper ha ha. joke off course.
A Copy of The Treaty was not sent to every home, No home in our Estate received one or any other information on The Treaty, therefore I will be voting No.
have your say