Democracy Volunteers deployed a small team of observers to Ireland for the 2024 General Election. The team observed in Dublin and Kildare.
Because of the decentralised nature of Irish elections, election observation is only possible where the relevant authority has given advanced approval for observers to attend. In the case of Dáil Éireann general election this requires each individual returning officer to give their approval for election observation to go ahead. As such, Ireland does not fully meet the international standard for election observation.
The Copenhagen document states, that ‘participating States recognize that vigorous democracy depends on the existence as an integral part of national life of democratic values and practices as well as an extensive range of democratic institutions. They will therefore encourage, facilitate and, where appropriate, support practical co-operative endeavours and the sharing of information, ideas and expertise among themselves and by direct contacts and co-operation between individuals, groups and organizations in areas including…observation.’
As such, Director of Democracy Volunteers, Dr John Ault said today;
‘This Irish Government has welcomed us twice in 2024 to observe elections, and they are always very welcoming, as are many individual returning officers. It’s good that they are so open to having election observers. However, the system is not perfect as election observation can be prevented, and sometimes is, by local returning officers – as they have to give their local consent.
‘This is not an ideal situation as, despite the clear benefits of election observation, which the Irish Foreign Ministry contributes to around the world, as part of the European Union and the OSCE states, it does not fully allow observation of its own elections.
‘We therefore call on the Irish Government to reassess its legalisation regarding election observation to allow domestic and international observers full access to the voting process.’
