Eleven local authorities around the country have more people listed on their election registers than are eligible to vote, reports RTE.
An Coimisiún Toghcháin, the independent electoral commission, has expressed deep concern about ongoing accuracy issues with the multiple electoral databases, following a major research project.
Currently, there are 31 electoral registers, most of which are not connected to each other, leading to widespread duplication, reports RTE.
Some political scientists estimate there could be up to 500,000 inaccurate entries on the register, though An Coimisiún Toghcháin says it is impossible to determine the exact number.
However, it believes there are hundreds of thousands of surplus names spread across the registers, reports RTE.
It noted that some local authorities have significant numbers of duplicate, redundant, or deceased entries, while others are less affected.
All 11 local authorities with an excess of registered voters are described as having “below average accuracy indicators,” reports RTE.
Eight of these, ranked by the extent of over-registration, are Sligo, Donegal, Galway County, Cork County, Carlow, Cavan, and Mayo.
The Department of Housing and Local Government is working to develop a single national register, expected to be completed by autumn 2026.
An Coimisiún Toghcháin chief Art O’Leary explained that “difficulties” come from having 31 separate electoral registers, reports RTE.
“Every local authority has its own register and aside from the four [councils] in Dublin, they don’t talk to each other, and I think this is where the difficulties are,” he said, r r
Speaking on RTÉ’s News at One, Mr O’Leary said that An Coimisiún Toghcháin has asked councils for “unique identifiers” for those on the registers, including PPS numbers, birth dates, and Eircodes.
This would allow them to “recognise duplicates” in the system and greatly improve the maintenance and management of the registers, reports RTE.
He also said An Coimisiún Toghcháin needs to work on cleaning up existing data by encouraging the public to update their information on the register.
Due to inaccuracies in the registers, Mr O’Leary said that the official voter turnout figures at recent elections are “definitely wrong.”
“Turnout is definitely understated, there’s no doubt about it, it’s not possible to say how many duplicates or people on the register that there are,” reports RTE.
“There are people who have moved address and are duplicates, there’s also people who have died, people who have left the country, or are not entitled to vote, but they remain on the register,” he said, reports RTE.
Mr O’Leary suggested that true voter turnout could be about 5% higher than the official figures due to the state of the registers.
“I think the strongest recommendation is the need for sustained long-term investment in the register…the maintenance and management of the register carries on forever,” reports RTE.
Mr O’Leary emphasised that “accuracy of the register is absolutely fundamental” and said the creation of a single database would have happened sooner if not for the number of elections in recent years.
He said it is ultimately an issue of priorities for local councils, which are “all very busy,” reports RTE.
“We don’t it make it that easy to take people off the register because it’s a very fundamental thing, the right to vote and we need to be really sure that someone is not entitled to vote before they take them off,” he said, reports RTE.
Still, Mr O’Leary added, it is possible, but it requires greater prioritisation across all local authorities.
“What we’re keen to see is real progress being made in 2027 and 2028 to ensure that by the time the next electoral cycle in ’29 happens our electoral registers should be in a much better place,” reports RTE.
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