Plese vote strategically in elections, EU and non-EU

[Brigid from Ireland]

If you are not registered to vote, please register and please vote. I think you need to be in Ireland one year to register, but you can check this yourself.

EU can vote in local and European elections. You need to take ID such as passport to the voting station.

Non-EU and EU can vote in local elections, and this is where votes really count. If any community can get even 20 votes together, this is a significant voting block at local election level and this can be the difference between one local politician and another getting elected.

Politicians, especially in the local elections, check the register to see who did and did not vote. Your name is marked off as you vote.If you need a favour from a TD/local politician they will check to see how many votes come with the favour. Literally they will count you, your wife, siblings and their spouses who live in the same place, and any adult children. Children too young to vote will also be counted, as they are future voters. But if your family does not vote then you cannot expect to get even the most minor favour from your local politician, as you are not helping them when they need votes.

So if you visit a politician to ask for a favour, you need to tell him how many people are in your family, and that you all vote. (If you are foreign he won't automatically know how many relatives you have in his town, but if you were Irish he would know it).

I have literally heard politicians say 'that is an important house, there are 8 votes there' - parents and six kids, for example.

I would advise any community to get together and pick a politician and all vote for him/her. It does not really matter which one you pick, but it is good if a community votes in one block, as they are then more likely to get favours from that politician. In fact, if a community leader can get 50 plus people together and march them into a voting station as one block it will be noted and they will find that local politicians will want to know who that block of 50 people voted for. So if a community can all vote at the same time of day in a particular voting station this is good for them in political terms, as it means their votes will be seen as one unit and politicians will want that block of votes.

Voting needs to be done strategically, so as to obtain the maximum benefit for your family and community.

[SelectMe]

Great Stuff Brigid!

If, you are not on register, you will not be allowed to vote. Hence, check if your name on the register or not. If you never registered before, download the form below, still you may register yourself.

http://www.checktheregister.ie/appforms ... h_Form.pdf

All the best

[thepiratequeen]

Yes, I agree. The local politicians have helped us several times, and they will have our votes now and forever. I love the fact that they are accessible and always try to respond and lend a helping hand. (We even had our councillor and TD act as 2 of our referees.) Can't wait to be able to vote fully.

[joker]

This type of behaviour is why we are in the state of affairs we are in DEBT. Politicans aren't elected to dole out favours to certain noisey sections of society, they are supposedly trying to run the country. I've never heard any politican say anything like the following

"So if you visit a politician to ask for a favour, you need to tell him how many people are in your family, and that you all vote. (If you are foreign he won't automatically know how many relatives you have in his town, but if you were Irish he would know it).

I have literally heard politicians say 'that is an important house, there are 8 votes there' - parents and six kids, for example.

I would advise any community to get together and pick a politician and all vote for him/her. It does not really matter which one you pick, but it is good if a community votes in one block, as they are then more likely to get favours from that politician. In fact, if a community leader can get 50 plus people together and march them into a voting station as one block it will be noted and they will find that local politicians will want to know who that block of 50 people voted for. So if a community can all vote at the same time of day in a particular voting station this is good for them in political terms, as it means their votes will be seen as one unit and politicians will want that block of votes."

Voting needs to be done strategically, so as to obtain the maximum benefit for your family and community.[/quote]

[dalebutt]

If this is the state of Ireland politics, then God help us all, not a country worth migrating to in my view, this is exactly the sort of politics most African migrants are used to, talk about jumping out of a frying pan into fire.