An Irish vote that doesn’t count
In the week leading up to February 25th, 2011, Molly Muldoon, a 25-year-old Irish immigrant living in Astoria, Queens, went online to Ballotbox.ie and cast her vote in Ireland’s national elections. Then, she watched closely as the results of the historic elections poured in, upsetting the country’s entire political structure.
But unlike the votes of her family and friends still living in Ireland, Muldoon’s vote, along with the 5, 579 others cast on Ballotbox.ie by Irish emigrants around the world, didn’t count.
This is because unlike most European countries, Ireland does not allow its citizens abroad to vote, causing many expatriates to feel disenfranchised and cast off. Ballotbox.ie was set up as a symbolic tool to represent the voices of emigrants.
“It’s not about me just going on and casting a vote,” said Muldoon. “It’s me saying ‘I have a voice, and I would like it to be represented in some shape or form.’”
According to Globalirish.ie, there are an estimated 3 million Irish passport holders living outside of Ireland, about 1 million of whom were born in Ireland. Since the collapse of the Irish economy in recent years, the country has experienced an enormous increase in net outward migration. Between April 2009 and April 2010, the rate rose to -34,000, the highest outward migration rate recorded since 1989, according to Ireland’s Central Statistics Office.
One hundred fifteen countries around the world, 41 of which are in Europe, allow their citizens living abroad to vote in some form, according to a 2007 report from the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. This number, however, is complicated by the many restrictions and procedural barriers that exist from country to country.
Ireland, for example, is counted among these 115 countries because it allows an extremely select group of “citizens carrying out official missions abroad of a diplomatic or military nature” to vote. Of the 41 European countries, it is the only country that does not allow the majority of its citizens abroad to vote, although many of these countries restrict the right depending on a citizen’s length of time abroad.
“Most of the European countries guarantee the right to vote for all citizens,” said Licia Nicoletti, a facilitator at the ACE Electoral Knowledge Network. “In the recent years, there is a general tendency to enact new laws in this direction.”
While both Italy and Spain passed laws allowing external voting within the past 10 years, Ireland has not followed suit, leaving emigrants like Muldoon, who was laid off from her job in Ireland and felt forced out of her country by a lack of job prospects, frustrated. Muldoon works as a staff writer for an Irish media company in New York, where her reporting has led her to discover many people who share this sentiment.
“So many people felt that they had to leave because of the economic policies of the government that was in power,” she explained. “They’re hoping that they can return once the economy improves, so that’s why a lot of people were frustrated—because they had no say in the government that’s going to be in power for when, hopefully, they can return.”
Incredible advances in technology have also fueled a close and constant connection to their home country that previous waves of emigrants were unable to maintain. “We are all so aware of what’s going on at home,” said Muldoon. “You talk to your parents, your friends at home, you’re online all day, emailing, Facebook…you’re exposed to so many snapshots of what’s happening.”
Donncha O’Connell, a candidate in the election for Seanad Eireann, the Irish Senate, agrees. He has made voting rights for citizens abroad a priority in his campaign, and maintains that not only are expatriates able to retain connections and keep up with current affairs in Ireland, but their distance may even be a plus.
“In fact, distance might be quite a good thing when it comes to maintaining a clear and objective perspective on things,” he wrote in a recent blog post. “The shared knowledge from those living abroad might be as important – economically and in other ways – as the shared ‘remittances’ of the past.”
Not everyone, of course, agrees. An editorial that Muldoon posted on IrishCentral.com was met with intense anger from many Irish citizens who believe that only those who are living in Ireland and paying taxes should maintain the right to vote. “I think it's nonsense to be advocating for emigrants to be allowed to vote,” wrote one commenter, identified as actor47. “No taxation without representation works both ways.”
While the debate continues, the movement for emigrant voting rights was solidified this year with the founding of Ballotbox.ie, a platform that gave Irish citizens abroad a space to share their opinions, even if their votes were merely symbolic. “It put emigrants’ voices on record at home,” said Muldoon.
Ballotbox.ie’s election results ended up being very similar to the outcome of the actual elections, with both groups soundly rejecting Fianna Fail, the party that had controlled the Irish government for close to a century. Both elected a coalition government between Fine Gael and the Labour party. Independents and the Green party fared much better on Ballotbox.ie than in actual elections.
Now that the elections have passed, it’s unclear whether the movement’s momentum will run out of steam. Ballotbox’s Facebook page remains active, with organizers posting updates about continuing the campaign and calling for volunteers. Muldoon, for one, is hopeful, but realistic.
“Ireland has so many issues to tackle right now, that this is just tiny for people,” she sighed. “And I think most people would agree with that. As in, ‘Yeah, I would like to have a vote, and I think its important, but you know what? There are 101 things that are ahead of that that are much more vital in Ireland right now that aren’t happening.’ I definitely don’t think it’s going to be a priority in the short term. “
