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People queuing at the Garda Station to complete their voting registration. Photo: ITT Students Union/Twitter
THE National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) is encouraging the 1,997 young people in Kerry who have turned 18 in the past 12 months, to make sure they are registered to vote, given that a General Election is just weeks away.
If the election is held at the end of February, as widely expected, the deadline for inclusion on the supplementary register could be as early as February 8.
Students from ITT were queuing at the Garda Station in Tralee this morning to get their registration form stamped as this tweet from ITT Students Union shows.
Have you seen this @Traleetodaynews students queuing up to register to vote #ge16 pic.twitter.com/do9AM4dUdF
— IT Tralee SU (@ITTraleeSU) February 3, 2016
James Doorley, NYCI deputy director explained: “We are especially anxious to ensure that the 1,997 young people who have turned 18 in the last 12 months in Kerry are included in the electoral register and can exercise their democratic right.”
Any young person who is 18 years of age on or before the date of the election is eligible to vote. If they are not currently registered, they can do so by downloading and filling in the RFA2 form at www.checktheregister.ie.
This form must be stamped at a Garda Station and returned to the local authority before close of business on the registration deadline.
Likewise, if a young person wishes to change their registration address, they need to complete an RFA3 form, get it stamped and return it to the local authority by the deadline which will be known once the election date is announced.
“For almost every election we get calls from young people who have missed the registration deadline and are disappointed that they cannot vote, we urge young people to make sure they are registered and not to leave it to the last minute, so that they can vote in the upcoming General Election,” concluded Mr Doorley.
