Meath County Council responds to call for electoral register update
Ahead of the presidential elections, a Sinn Féin councillor has called on Meath County Council to launch a comprehensive campaign to update the county’s electoral register.
Councillor Maria White’s motion comes in response to the Electoral Commission’s first-ever Oversight Report, published in May 2025, which highlighted the need for improved completeness and accuracy of electoral registers across Ireland.
At the September meeting of Meath County Council, the local authority noted that the county’s electorate currently stands at 165,692.
The council said that the Electoral Commission report identified some gaps in the local register, primarily relating to older data collected before the introduction of Eircodes, PPS numbers, and email addresses.
“Due to the transient nature of the current population and this county’s proximity to Dublin, registration details need to be constantly updated, and the Registration Authority is dependent to a large extent on engagement from the electors,” they said.
They also pointed out that the introduction of the online registration portal in 2022, which has made “registering to vote more accessible now than ever.”
The council added that many national and local initiatives have already been undertaken to encourage voter registration.
These include interviews on local radio stations, presentations to youth and older persons’ councils, pop-up information desks at libraries, distribution of information packs to community groups, participation in migrant information and cultural events, engagement with the Public Participation Network, and regular updates on council social media channels.
“Meath County Council will continue with its local targeted campaign to update the electoral register, with the aim of improving its accuracy and completeness, while also encouraging greater voter engagement and participation,” the local authority added.