Electoral Register Flaws Risk Disenfranchising Voters

Does anyone really care?

The Electoral Commission of Ireland has released a report that only political nerds will read. It has revealed significant flaws in the country’s voter registration system. Nationally, it appears one in eight eligible voters are missing from the register, and more people are registered to vote than are eligible to vote in 11 different local authorities. The conspiracy theorists are loving that statistic.

The report on Ireland’s electoral registers show that while 92% of listed entries are fairly accurate, systemic failures in council administration have left gaping holes in the system, particularly affecting young adults, renters, and urban dwellers. About 8% of the names on it belong to people who are either dead, have left the country, have been duplicated, or possibly never existed in the first place.

The report also shows young people aren't registering to vote, which might explain why so many policies aimed at older generations get a free pass. The 18-30 folk might be too busy doo…