Polling cards sent to dead

Efforts to improve the accuracy of the electoral register in Tipperary aim to deal with the issue of polling cards being sent to people who are deceased.

There were just over 139,000 people on the register in Tipperary in December 2024. Around 2,160 entries were removed from the register between December 2022 and March 2024, primarily duplicate entries, deceased electors and people who had moved away. In 2024 as a whole, there were 6,456 deletions from the register and 13,104 updates.

This month's meeting of Tipperary Co Council was informed that work is ongoing on a “data cleanse” of the electoral register. This follows concerns raised by the Electoral Commission over the accuracy of Ireland’s electoral registers, which are spread across all 31 local authorities.

Cllr Phyll Bugler told the meeting that she had received representations about polling cards being sent to people who had been dead for six or seven years.

While she appreciated that the council uses the rip.ie website to keep track of deaths, Cllr Bugler said a significant number of people remain on the register long after they are dead. This is a “big issue” that must be dealt with, she said.

In agreement was Cllr Máirín McGrath, who spoke of families getting “really upset” over polling cards being sent to their deceased loved ones.

Cllr McGrath was one of several speakers to suggest that people being away on holiday was one of the key reasons for the poor turnout in the last election. She supported Cllr David Dunne's call for postal votes for people on holidays, saying every effort should be made to encourage people to vote.

Cllr Dunne said postal votes should be made available to registered electors who could prove that they booked their holiday before an election was called. Polish people living in Ireland were able to vote in the recent presidential election in their home country, he pointed out.

Cllr Liam Browne reckoned between 20,000 and 30,000 people in Tipperary did not vote because they were away on holidays booked weeks before the last election was called.

Ger Walsh, Senior Executive Officer, Corporate Services, pointed out that Ireland's 31 electoral registers are to be amalgamated into a single database in 2026. This would deal with a lot of the issues raised, including the issue of duplicate entries. Mr Walsh said the council would continue working on the local register and there was a protocol that had to be followed before any name could be removed. The council could not do anything about postal votes for holidaymakers, as this would require new legislation.