General Election nomination rules discriminatory and undemocratic

9 May 2002

The Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed believes the current nomination rules regarding independent candidates in the forthcoming general election are unfair and discriminate against the unemployed and those on low incomes.

Following changes in the nomination rules for general elections, a non-party political candidate must secure 30 nominees, each of whom must present themselves at their constituency registrar of elections office equipped with ID in the form of a passport, a driving license or a laminated bank account card with photograph.

'Many unemployed people have not got a passport, a driving license or a bank account,' said Eric Conroy of the INOU. 'So effectively they are barred from nominating general election candidates. The requirement that all 30 must present themselves at a constituency registrar is also a major obstacle for any nominee without access to private vehicles or good public transport.

'Article 16.1.1 of the constitution states that "Every citizen without distinction of sex who has reached the age of twenty-one years, and who is not placed under disability or incapacity by this Constitution or by law, shall be eligible for membership of Dáil Éireann", but this eligibility is meaningless if unfair obstacles are placed in the way of independent candidates or nominees. Effectively, the current nomination rules exclude many unemployed people from full participation in our political systems. This is systematic marginalisation and marks a major low point in Irish democracy.

'The new nomination rules were only published last month, giving independent candidates little advance warning of the requirement to find 30 nominees, ensure they all had the specified ID and to organise their nominees transport to their local constituency registrar's office, which may be dozens of miles away on the far side of a constituency.

Confusion is increased by the fact that the new nomination rules are not published on the Department of The Environment and Local Government's website, http://www.environ.ie/electindex.html; instead the Website falsely states "A deposit of IR£300 must be lodged in respect of each candidate".

'While the old election requirement for a £300 deposit from nominees as a heavy financial burden on candidates from disadvantaged backgrounds - the price of 30 new passports is more than twice that sum. The unemployed and those on low incomes have lost out in the recent economic boom, now it appears they are being gerrymandered from taking part fully in our democratic processes.'