Questions raised over where Limerick nursing home residents can vote

NURSING home residents will be able to vote wherever they are registered in the upcoming elections in June.

At the meeting of the Newcastle West Municipal District, Cllr Jerome Scanlan asked about arrangements for people in nursing homes to cast their votes. 

It was explained that if they are registered voters in the nursing home and special voter forms are completed, they can be facilitated to vote there and a ballot box is taken to the nursing home. 

However, if the person remains registered at their home address, their vote is only valid in their home area, but they must make arrangements to go there to vote. 

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Cllr Liam Galvin told the meeting: “There should be a means for people resident in nursing homes to vote in the place where they are registered - they should be allowed to vote in the nursing home for their own area.” 

The point was made that if someone is in a nursing home outside their own electoral area, they can’t vote for their local representatives at home. 

“The facility should be available in the nursing home for them to vote in their place of origin,” Cllr Galvin said. 

There are 22,709 registered voters in the Newcastle West area.