Westmeath County Council (WCC) Our Services

Register to Vote

In order to vote in an election or referendum, you must be:

18 years old, or over, on the day of the vote
resident in Ireland
registered with your Local Authority on the Register of Electors

Are you entitled to vote?

Your entitlement to vote in an election or referendum is based on your nationality.

Irish citizens can vote in all elections and referendums.
British citizens can vote in Dáil and local elections.
EU citizens can vote in European and local elections.
Non-EU citizens can vote in local elections only.

Are you already registered? Have your details changed?

You can check if you are registered, and if your details are correct, on checktheregister.ie or by contacting our Franchise Section at the contact details below.

How to register or update your details

To register to vote, or to change your details, you need to complete a form and send it to our Franchise Section.

There are different forms for making different changes to the Register, such as registering for the first time, updating your address, updating your citizenship status, transferring your European Parliament vote to Ireland, or applying for a postal vote. More Information on Voting and Elections

Forms are available from checktheregister.ie and our page on Voting and Elections, or you can request them in person from the County Council offices on Mount Street, Mullingar or Church Street, Athlone.

When you register, you might be asked for documents, such as copies of your birth certificate, passport, or certificate of naturalisation, to prove you are eligible to vote.

Deadlines and important dates

You must be ordinarily resident in Ireland on 1 September if you want to vote in the following year.

The Draft Register of Electors (that is, the draft of the register for the next year) is published on 1 November.

You can make corrections or add your name to the Draft Register until 25 November.

The new Register of Electors is published on 1 February.

The Register of Electors comes into force for one year on 15 February.

Supplement to the Register

After the Register is published, you can still be added to a Supplement to the Register, or update your details on the Register, until two weeks before polling day (excluding Sundays, public holidays and Good Friday).

To be added to the Supplement, use an RFA2 form.

To update your address, use an RFA3 form.

Citizens of an EU member state who register to vote in Ireland must also complete an EP1 form if they wish to transfer their European Parliament vote from their home country to Ireland.

To be added to the Supplement to the Postal Voters list, use a PVS1 form (for physical illness or disability) or a PVS2 form (for circumstances of occupation).