MINISTER PHIL HOGAN has called on people to check that they are actually on the register of voters ahead of next month’s referendum on the fiscal compact treaty.

The government recently announced that the referendum will be held on Thursday, 31 May.

You can check if you are on the register at checktheregister.ie. The current register of electors came into force on 15 February.

If you are not on it, but are eligible to vote and want to register ahead of the referendum, you can still be added to the supplementary list of voters. However, the date for receipt of these applications is Monday, 14 May.

To do this, you must fill in an RFA 2 form which are available through local authorities and online here (as Gaeilge anseo). You have to sign this form in the presence of a garda (make sure you bring official photo ID such as a passport with you as well as proof of address).

If you are on the register but have moved from the address you are registered under, you should use an RFA3 form (as Gaeilge anseo) to apply for inclusion on the supplementary list of voters under your new address.

Postal and special voters

Anyone who wishes to apply for the postal voters or special voters list has to have done so within two days of the minister issuing the polling day order, which he has not yet done. However, Hogan says that anyone wishing to apply for these lists should do so as soon as possible.

Those who can apply for postal votes include gardaí, full-time members of the Defence Forces, Irish diplomats who are serving abroad and their spouses/partners, people whose occupations are likely to prevent them voting at their local polling station such as full-time students who live away from home.

If you do register for a postal vote, this is how you must cast your vote – you cannot instead vote at a polling station.

People who qualify for the special voter list include those who are ordinarily resident at a hospital or nursing home and who, because of illness or disability, cannot go in person to a polling station.

“It is important for our democracy that people go out to vote and have their say,” the minister said today in a statement. “I want to remind and  encourage people who are entitled to vote, but who are not registered to do so, to take the necessary steps to get on the supplement to the register.”