Electoral Law

The Electoral Commission should be given the power to initiate prosecutions at both national and local levels, a cross-party group of MPs has recommended. The proposal is one of 20 recommendations set out in a new report by the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on electoral campaigning transparen

The High Court in Belfast will hand down its ruling on Monday on a legal challenge to the requirement for local and European election candidates to disclose their home address. Former SDLP councillor Máiría Cahill, who is supported by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC

Draft legislation to hold a referendum on allowing Irish citizens abroad and in Northern Ireland to vote in presidential elections has been submitted to the Dáil. The Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Presidential Elections) Bill 2019 provides for a referendum to amend article 12 of

The Standards in Public Office Commission has called for a "full legislative review" of electoral legislation to ensure it is fit for the 21st century. The ethics watchdog warned that the Electoral Act 1997 is "now over 20 years old and requires modernisation".

A sitting councillor has been forced to withdraw from next month's local government elections after refusing to publicly disclose her home address. Candidates for local government do not have the option of withholding their home address, even though candidates for Northern Ireland Assembly and UK Pa

Ireland's human rights watchdog has said any new electoral commission for the State should have a mandate to challenge hate speech in election campaigns. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has today set out its recommendations to Government on the establishment of a new electoral commiss

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has called for a review of the Electoral Acts amid concerns that the legislation may be having a chilling effect on civil society organisations. In a policy statement, the Commission warned that the State "should avoid placing undue restrictions on wide