Mary has welcomed confirmation that the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage will invite the Department, Dublin City Council, Dublin Sheriff, the Electoral Commission to a public meeting to discuss electoral arrangements to protect democracy and ballot integrity.
All around the world democracy is being rivalled by autocracy. Here, our own democracy is under attack on a daily basis. Various pieces of research have been published recently ahead of the Local and European Elections that show efforts from external actors to undermine our democratic process
Specific areas of concern include actors outside the state using social media and digital communications to influence public opinion and voters, voter personation, the accuracy of the Register, functionality challenges with www.voter.ie, post-electoral event reporting, the control and regulation of posters and safety and abuse of candidates.
It is critically important that we discuss these areas of concern with the diligence and integrity that they require and ensure that we have all possible arrangements in place to protect the integrity of the ballot.
