Number on electoral register falls after ‘clean-up’ project

The number of people on the electoral register in Westmeath has fallen by almost 1,900 in the last 18 months as a major clean-up of voter records continues ahead of the launch of Ireland’s new national electoral registration system.

A presentation to members of Westmeath County Council heard that the county’s register now contains 75,979 electors, down from 77,834 in December 2024, while the proportion of the estimated eligible population registered has fallen from 101.2% to 98.7%.

Corporate Services staff said the reduction reflects a significant data-cleansing exercise rather than a fall in voter participation, as thousands of duplicate, outdated and deceased records are removed from the register.

The council heard that information held on voters has also improved significantly. The proportion of records containing an Eircode has risen from 84.5% to 88%, while PPS numbers have increased from 22.4% to 27.8% of records. The percentage of electors with a recorded date of birth has increased from 66.7% to 68.4%.

Presenting the report, Anne Galvin said the improvements were the result of extensive work undertaken in preparation for migration to the new national Voter.ie electoral registration system, which is due to go live on September 14 after a pre-migration phase beginning on August 3.

She said the Electoral Reform Act 2022 had introduced the biggest overhaul of voter registration in decades, including a rolling register, online registration, pre-registration for 16 and 17-year-olds, anonymous registration and the creation of a single national electoral registration system.

During 2025, Westmeath removed more than 2,200 duplicate electoral records following a detailed review carried out with the assistance of the General Register Office, Department of Social Protection data, and other local authorities. The council also updated more than 2,000 townlands and 118 polling stations while adding 2,247 new electors to the register.

Ms Galvin said the new national system would make it much easier to identify duplicate registrations and deceased electors, while allowing people changing address to transfer their registration more easily between local authorities.

One of the major tasks still under way involves correcting missing or inaccurate Eircodes. At the start of this year, 11,226 electors on the Westmeath register either had an incorrect Eircode or none recorded.

Letters seeking updated details have been issued across the county. By June 10, responses had been received from 44% of electors contacted in the Mullingar Local Electoral Area, 42% in Athlone, 16% in Kinnegad and 10% in Moate. Ms Galvin stressed the latter figures reflected the staggered timing of the mailshots rather than lower engagement and said response rates were expected to improve.

Councillors broadly welcomed the progress.

Cllr Vinny McCormack said members had highlighted problems with the register for years and welcomed the improvements. He asked whether the register would be fully up to date before the next local elections and welcomed plans to visit secondary schools to encourage young people to register.

Cllr Aengus O’Rourke described the changes as long overdue after years during which the register had become increasingly inaccurate. He suggested people should automatically be added to the register when they turn 18, with the option of opting out rather than having to register themselves.

Several councillors raised questions about duplicate registrations, the use of MyGovID, people living abroad, polling districts and voter registration for young people.

Responding, Ms Galvin said people would continue to be able to register using paper forms and would not be required to have a MyGovID account.

She confirmed the objective of the new system is that every elector should be registered in only one location, rather than appearing on multiple registers as has happened previously.

She also reassured members that electors without an Eircode, PPS number or date of birth would not be removed from the register simply because that information had not been supplied, although providing the details greatly improves the accuracy of the system.

The council also plan to expand voter registration drives in libraries, visit secondary schools throughout Westmeath during the autumn and launch a ‘Check Your Vote’ public awareness campaign following the introduction of Voter.ie.