Cast your voting ideas online or by post

A public consultation has been launched on how to get more people to vote.

If you or your organisation has ideas then An Coimisiún Toghcháin, Ireland’s independent electoral commission, wants to hear from you.

The Electoral Commission on Monday launched a public consultation to shape the future of how people receive education and information on Ireland’s electoral and democratic processes.

People can make submissions through the Commission’s website electoralcommission.ie/consultation or by post.

An Coimisiún is building Ireland’s first Education and Public Engagement Strategy focused specifically on getting people engaged with our democratic processes.

It has identified four initial areas on which to focus:

· Formal education - to engage students in the democratic processes with the aim of encouraging them to register and begin voting as soon as they reach 18

· Adult and community education - to reach into this vibrant, passionate and geographically dispersed audience of learners

· Groups experiencing barriers - to improve democratic participation of these groups by helping encourage discussion, remove barriers and provide access to information

· National public engagement - to connect with as wide a spectrum of society as possible but looking at national projects and initiatives to encourage and increase electoral engagement across society

Art O’Leary, Chief Executive of An Coimisiún Toghcháin said: “Our objectives are simple, but challenging – everyone who is eligible to votehould be on the electoral register, everyone should know how to vote and how their vote works, and everyone on the register should vote on polling day.

“All of us have an individual voice in our democracy, so it’s important to make sure we get to use it whenever we get the opportunity. We want to hear from you, young or old, whether you have never voted before or vote every time – tell it like it should be!

“Your contribution to our Education Strategy will help us to encourage people to get more involved in our democracy. We want to amplify the good work that is already happening and to provide easy access to education and information so that everyone feels that they belong in our electoral system.”

The consultation runs until Monday 24 March.