Students’ Unions across Ireland have directly registered 26,979 new student voters in the lead up to the Eighth Amendment referendum on May 25th, said the Union of Students Ireland.
“We’re not surprised to see so many new students registering to vote, it’s clear students want to vote on this issue,” said USI President Michael Kerrigan.
18,000 students were registered in semester one and a further 8,000 were registered in the last three weeks.
Kerrigan said that USI expects this number to rise following more voter registration drives scheduled across the country.
“DCU were key contributors to this figure,” said DCU SU President Niall Behan. “We registered over 1,100 last week and we really believe young people are getting their voice heard in the referendum this year”.
“It’s brilliant to see students taking ownership of their vote and ensuring they cast it this May,” said Behan.
“Students can go onto www.checktheregister.ie and see if they are registered to vote. All students have to do is fill out the RFA2 forms found on www.checktheregister.ie, get your local Garda to stamp the form, and post the form to your local County Council,” said Kerrigan.
“A lot students mightn’t have registered if it wasn’t for the work done by Students’ Unions,” said DCU SU VP for Welfare and Equality Podge Henry.
“The students – we were hoping to be the lead on the repeal and on the Yes campaign, so it’s so imperative that we get the students registered and we get them out to vote because at the end of the day, their voice matters,” said Henry.
“One vote might seem minimal but if you look it, 27,000 votes is a huge, huge amount. So we’re just delighted.”
Tuesday May 8th is the closing date for registration, but forms must be posted by Friday May 4th because of the Bank Holiday Monday. USI is a member of the national civil society campaign, Together For Yes.
DCU had voter registration stands today on the Glasnevin and St Patrick’s campuses.
“We’re not finished yet,” said Kerrigan.
Emily Sheahan
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