Electoral register warning rescinded

Warning notices of the intention to remove up to 19,000 names from the draft register of electors in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown have been withdrawn by the local authority.

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, which issued the notices on December 22nd last, said its decision to rescind the warning came after legal advice.

The council said last night that only in those cases where documentation had been returned to the council marked "gone away", "not known" etc, where the voter was known to have died or in the case of duplicate entries, would names be removed.

The council's action follows complaints by Labour TD Éamon Gilmore that many people who had taken steps to ensure they were on the draft register of electors, were subsequently among those who were issued with the warning notices.

The notices, copies of which were seen by The Irish Times, advised named individuals that if they did not write to the county registrar in advance, or turn up in person at the registrar's office in Inns Quay, Dublin, by 11am today they faced having their names removed.

The letters headed "Correction of Draft Register", followed by the person's name, advised of the "removal of above name from the Draft Register of electors 2007/2008".

The 19,000 recipients were told: "You may object to the correction by writing to the county registrar at the undermentioned address immediately stating your objection and, if necessary, may attend and give evidence or be represented at any hearing into the claim."

It also advised: "The county registrar may require that any evidence tendered at the hearing is given on oath."

The council said it had made strenuous efforts to contact all potential electors, not least because of the number of elderly voters on the register, who might find the process difficult.

A spokeswoman said as a result of door-to-door inquiries, last year some 38,600 changes took place to the register, including 21,908 deletions and 14,432 additions. However, some 30,000 people did not respond to two visits by council staff and failed to complete the documentation left at their recorded homes.

Last November each person was sent a stamped addressed envelope which requested them to confirm details supplied. Approximately 11,000 responded to this letter, leaving 19,000 unaccounted for.

On December 22nd the council issued its warning notices, advising that should individuals not have petitioned the registrar by 11am today, they would be removed from the draft register of electors.

But Mr Gilmore, Labour's environment spokesman, warned of potential electoral chaos and asked if the council was seriously asking 19,000 to turn up at once at the registrar's office.

He said people were being told "unless they appear in person at the electoral court they are going to be removed from the register and will lose their right to vote at the next election".

Of course there would be "total chaos" if even a small fraction of the 19,000 people actually turned up in person, he added.

Following its review yesterday the council said it wished to advise all electors in its area who received notices issued on December 22nd, that it was "not intended to delete names from the draft register of electors".

Only in cases where the council knew for certain that people should not be on the register, would they be removed, it added.