Voters urged to register ahead of Blasphemy Referendum

The Referendum Commission is urging people in Cavan to ensure they are registered to vote in the referendum on blasphemy, which is due to take place on Friday October 26, the same date as the presidential election.

With little over a week to go before the October 9 register to vote deadline, the Referendum Commission is running radio, online and social media advertising urging people to check immediately to ensure they can vote. While the Commission’s remit covers the referendum only, being on the electoral register allows you to vote in both the referendum and the presidential election.

The proposal in this referendum concerns the issue of blasphemy. The Constitution says that publishing or saying something blasphemous is a criminal offence. And so to give effect to this Constitutional requirement publishing or uttering something blasphemous is a criminal offence under our law with a fine of up to €25,000 if a person is convicted of that offence. And that is under the 2009 Defamation Act.

The proposed amendment in this referendum is to remove the word blasphemous from the Constitution.

If you are not registered, you can make sure you are added to a supplement to the register by completing a form which you can download from www.checktheregister.ie, or obtain from your local authority, Garda station, post office or public library. Then you bring the completed form to your local Garda station to have your identity certified, and ensure it gets to your local authority before October 9.