Social Democrat TD for Cork South-West, Holly Cairns, has called for work to begin immediately on extending general election voting rights to all non-citizen residents.
The TD was speaking during the Second Stage debate of the Electoral Reform Bill 2022.
This Bill aims to provide for the establishment of an electoral commission, which will act as an “independent, specialised body” with several functions that will address what Minister Darragh O’Brien described as the “emerging opportunities and challenges as our society and electoral environment evolve.”
The Bill will also provide for the regulation of online political advertising to counter what Government say is the “spread of online disinformation in the run-up to electoral events.”
During her contribution to the debate, Deputy Cairns expressed her wish for the proposed electoral commission to be “empowered and directed to address other structural inequalities.”
According to the Social Democrat TD, there needs to be a strong legal commitment for the commission to ensure “greater diversity in decision-making” and for it to develop standards in political discourse “that are free from discriminatory rhetoric and hate speech.”
Deputy Cairns said that discrimination, sexism, racism “and ableist thinking” all need be actively confronted.
Speaking on the specific need to extend general election voting rights to non-citizen resident’s the TD called for the electoral commission to empower work on “extending the franchise to as many residents as possible.”
This, she said, enhance our representative democracy “and strengthens integration.”
Deputy Cairns was also highly critical of what she called the “needlessly complex and expensive naturalisation process, which is a barrier to accessing citizenship, leaving people without a right to vote.”
On the issue of extending voting to 16- and 17-year-olds, the Social Democrat praised Sinn Fein Senator Fintan Warfield’s work in progressing the Electoral (Amendment) (Voting at 16) Bill 2016. She also encouraged the Government to support Senator Warfield’s Bill and “empower the commission to help young people realise this right.”
Without actions of this kind, Deputy Cairns said Government would merely reinforce the status quo, which is “wrong.”
Every single vote counts. I know that more than most.
I’ve knocked on thousands of doors in West Cork over the past four years and I’ve met countless people who’ve lived here for decades, pay taxes and contribute to their communities, but cannot vote in general elections. pic.twitter.com/xtNIjfvPOq
— Holly Cairns TD (@HollyCairnsTD) April 8, 2022