{"id":5914,"date":"2019-09-18T10:34:32","date_gmt":"2019-09-18T09:34:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/qpol.qub.ac.uk\/?p=5914"},"modified":"2019-09-18T10:34:32","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T09:34:32","slug":"extending-voting-rights-to-ni-in-irish-presidential-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/qpol\/extending-voting-rights-to-ni-in-irish-presidential-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Extending voting rights to Northern Ireland in Irish Presidential elections"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Legislation has been published in Ireland which facilitates the holding of a referendum<\/a> on the extension of voting rights in Irish presidential elections to Irish citizens who are resident outside of Ireland. The referendum was due to take place before the end of 2019 but is now likely to be held next year. If the proposal is supported in the referendum, this would enable an extension of voting rights for the planned 2025 Irish presidential election. This would mean that Irish citizens living in Northern Ireland will be able to vote in that election.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This decision to hold a referendum is the result of a recommendation made by Irish citizens at the Constitutional Convention in 2013. The Convention was an example of deliberative democracy in action: a random selection of Irish citizens \u2013 broadly representative of Irish citizens as a whole in terms of age, gender, social class and other characteristics \u2013 was selected to discuss (alongside a sample of elected politicians) a range of constitutional themes, and to make recommendations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this particular issue, the citizens met over a weekend and reflected on evidence presented by a range of experts, including two Queen’s University academics. Professor Colin Harvey presented to the citizens an analysis of the legal and constitutional aspects of extending the right to vote to Irish citizens resident outside the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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