Mayo has more people registered to vote than the eligible population

The Electoral Commission has stated it is ‘deeply concerned’ at the legacy accuracy issues on the electoral registers and has identified Mayo as one of the least accurate in the country.

In the first ever Oversight Report on Ireland’s Electoral Registers , the Commission says that because of the low level of 'quality of the register' that “it will not be possible to even attempt to estimate, with any degree of satisfaction, either the registration rate for the county, turnout at electoral events or the numbers of people who are not registered.”

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Mayo's electoral register has 100.4 percent of the number of electors on the register compared with estimated eligible electors. This, the Commission notes, “appears to indicate considerable inaccuracies on the register.”

Speaking on the publication of the report, Art O’Leary Chief Executive of The Electoral Commission stated:

“The accuracy and completeness of the electoral registers, as well as how they are managed and maintained, are fundamental to Ireland’s democratic process.

“The issue of accuracy needs resources and increased prioritisation by local authorities in the long term to ensure that the management of our electoral registers is improved.

“Ireland’s voters deserve the strongest and most accurate electoral registers they can have.”

In order to improve the accuracy of the Electoral Register, the Commission has created four 'accuracy indicators'. These indicators do not paint a pretty picture for Mayo County Council.

Mayo was in third last place nationally in two of those categories. The rate of percentage of entries on a register with Eircodes at 43.6 percent is significantly below the national average of 69.8 percent. Mayo's percentage of entries on a register with PPSNs was 18.2 percent, which was below the national average of 22%.

Mayo ranked in the bottom five nationally for the percentage of entries on a register with the combined dates of birth and Eircodes at 38.3 percent is also significantly below the national average of 56.0 percent.

Voters applying to join the electoral register multiple times or in multiple local authorities is one of the main reasons for the inaccurate electoral register. Another factor is the huge number of voters who registered in the immediate lead up to polling day. A snapshot of this is the 4,620 changes made to the Balancing List as well as 859 duplicates checked in the 16 days before the last general election.

The Commission has called on Mayo County Council to devote more resources to the electoral register as “insufficient efforts have been made to improve the overall quality of the electoral register.”

It is also hoped that the creation of a new shared national electoral register database, expected to be rolled out nationally in 2026, will make it easier to remove duplicates from the electoral register. Mayo County Council have been contacted for a response.