Attendees asked to pre-register now to vote for future elections.

An Coimisiún Toghcháin will be at stand 121, Expo Hall1 from 8 January to 10 January as part of the Stripe YSTE in the RDS

1 January 2025 – An Coimisiún Toghcháin, Ireland’s independent electoral commission, is partnering up with the Stripe Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition (Stripe YSTE) to present the inaugural Democracy and Elections Award at the exhibition.

An Coimisiún’s Research Programme 2024-2026 places collaboration and research partnerships at its core. The Stripe YSTE is an ideal opportunity to nurture and recognise excellent research which helps gain a deeper understanding of democracy at a time of considerable global challenge.

An Coimisiún will also build on its highly successful 2025 public engagement campaigns at Electric Picnic, the Ploughing Championship and Freshers’ Weeks to encourage young people to register to vote and pre-register students to be eligible to vote on their 18^th birthdays.

An Coimisiún’s National Election & Democracy Study (NEDS) of the 2024 General Election found that the 18–34-year-olds surveyed made up the biggest cohort of eligible voters (68%) who weren’t registered to vote and therefore did not have their say in the most recent General Election.

An Coimisiún is determined to build awareness among students, teachers and parents that young people can pre-register when they’re 16 and 17 years old by visiting www.CheckTheRegister.ie and then they will be automatically added to the register once they turn 18.

With around 40,000 people attending the Stripe YSTE each year, the team at An Coimisiún Toghcháin will be in Exhibitor Hall 1 running a mock election for your favourite invention, giving away prizes, speaking to teachers and parents, and encouraging everyone eligible to register or pre-register to vote on www.CheckTheRegister.ie

Art O’Leary, Chief Executive of An Coimisiún Toghcháin stated:

“These students – and the many young people like them across the country – are the future custodians of Ireland’s democracy. In their hands lies the strength of our democratic institutions, the level of public trust we enjoy, and the resilience of our shared civic life. Democracy is not a given; it is a living experiment. Like every great experiment celebrated at the Young Scientist Exhibition, it demands curiosity, care and sustained effort if it is to succeed.

“The inaugural Democracy and Elections Award recognises and celebrates the most creative and impactful thinking on democratic engagement, electoral participation, integrity and infrastructure. It reflects our commitment to nurturing innovation and research on elections and democracy at every stage of education, and it builds on the positive momentum created by the introduction of Politics and Society to the curriculum in recent years.”

An Coimisiún Toghcháin will be at stand 121, Expo Hall 1 from 8 January to 10 January as part of the Stripe YSTE in the RDS. 

– ENDS-

Editor’s Note:

An Coimisiún Toghcháin, The Electoral Commission

An Coimisiún Toghcháin is a statutory, independent body, established on 9 February 2023 with responsibility for a broad range of electoral functions set out in the Electoral Reform Act 2022.

An Coimisiún is central to Ireland’s electoral system, carrying out a range of existing and new electoral functions, including:

• promoting public awareness of, and working to increase public participation in the State’s electoral and democratic processes through education and information programmes;
• overseeing the modernised Electoral Register, making recommendations and setting standards in relation to its maintenance and updating;
• responsibility for the registration of political parties;
• responsibility for the investigation and monitoring of online disinformation, online misinformation and manipulative or inauthentic behaviour online during election campaign periods, as well as functions to prevent manipulative or inauthentic behaviours online. (Legislation not yet commenced).
• making reports for the Minister in relation to local electoral boundaries;
• preparing research programmes and conducting research on electoral policy and procedure, and providing advice, as required, to the Minister and Government;
• the preparation of ex-post reports on the administration of electoral events;
• the decision-making, oversight, secretariat and supporting services associated with explaining the subject matter of referendum proposals, the promotion of public awareness of referendums and encouragement of the electorate to vote at referendum polls; and
• the conducting of reviews and making reports in relation to the constituencies for the election of members to the Dáil and the election of members to the European Parliament.

It is anticipated that the initial set of functions assigned to An Coimisiún will be expanded upon as it builds capacity and expertise.