40,000 Irish abroad are eligible to vote in abortion referendum
The London Irish Abortion Rights Campaign estimates that more than 40,000 Irish citizens living abroad could be eligible to vote in the immanent abortion rights referendum, according to The Irish Times.
Under the Electoral Act 1992, Irish people may retain full voting rights for a period of 18 months after moving away, should they intend to return to Ireland within that timeframe.
Armed with this information, The London-Irish ARC have launched the Home To Vote campaign, encouraging Irish people abroad to head back to the Emerald Isle to vote in the referendum.
AND WE’RE LIVE! We’re excited to launch https://t.co/5QT0DsCUcs – a global campaign calling on Irish abroad to return #HometoVote in the #8thAmendment referendum. Read more here https://t.co/0rRv4nl8jd or visit https://t.co/5QT0DsCUcs. #repealthe8th pic.twitter.com/Od7uvFI9fL
— London-Irish ARC (@LdnIrishARC) February 8, 2018
'The Home to Vote campaign is a great initiative to make Irish voters living abroad aware of their rights to vote on the upcoming repeal the eight referendum,' said Dr Jennifer Kavanagh, Law Lecturer at Waterford Institute of Technology.
'Irish people who are living abroad are eligible to vote for a period of 18 months after leaving Ireland if they intend to come back to Ireland. Considering that the 8th Amendment has affected people for the past 34 years it is important that anyone that intends to come back to Ireland to live can express their opinion on this issue.'
'The impact of Irish people living abroad on the forthcoming referendum will probably be bigger than the marriage equality referendum.'
'It is essential that everyone has their say on this matter and informing those that live abroad of their franchise and exercising their voting rights will have a big impact on the overall vote.'
The campaign hopes to get Irish men and woman passionate about women's rights home to vote in time for the referendum.
To find out how you can help from here at home, visit hometovote.com.
Feature image: Instagram / repeal project
