Who can vote in the local elections?

All Irish citizens living in Ireland who are over 18 and are registered to vote can vote in the local elections. Local elections are held every five years and allow people to elect councillors for their local area. If you are living in Ireland but are not an Irish citizen, you still have the right to vote in local elections.

In order to vote, you must be on the Register of Electors. You do not need to be a citizen to get onto the register, but you do need to have been living in the Republic of Ireland for all of, or the majority of, the past three years. This is referred to as being ordinarily resident in Ireland.

Who can vote in Irish local elections?

• Anyone legally living in Ireland for the past three years
• Who is over the age of 18
• And is registered to vote

How do I register to vote in the local elections?

In Ireland, you can register to vote online at Check The Register.

The Electoral Reform Act 2022, which came into effect in October 2022, changed how voter registration works in Ireland. The previous system was replaced by a Rolling Register of Electors. The Rolling Register will be continuously updated.

You can find out more about registering to vote in Ireland by reading our register to vote guide.

What do I need in order to register to vote?

ChecktheRegister.ie is where you can go to check whether you are registered to vote in Ireland. There, you can also add additional information, or change information such as your address, PPS number, and more, if you are already registered but some of the information is incomplete or out of date.

When you are applying to register to vote online, you will need:

• Your PPS number
• Your date of birth
• Your Eircode

When do I have to register to vote by?

Sundays, public holidays and Good Friday are not counted as days, so it is important to double check when an election or referendum is to take place so you know when the cut-off is. If your local authority does not get your form on time, it can’t consider it for that election or referendum, so you will not be entitled to vote.

Check the Register’s home page is often updated to include cut-off days for specific electoral events.

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