A local councillor has claimed patients at University Hospital Waterford 'lost their vote' during the recent General Election as no facility was provided to allow them to cast their ballot.
Cllr. Eamon Quinlan (Fianna Fail) raised the issue at the most recent Plenary meeting of Waterford City and County Council.
He says he received phone calls from families of patients during the recent election as there was no facility for hospital patients to vote on polling day. Cllr. Quinlan sought clarity on the matter.
"Following my enquiries, University Hospital Waterford said that they were never told that they supposed to do it. Given the fact that corporate services here in the Council are so heavily involved in regulating our elections and our ballots - is it a requirement or is it an option or is it something that the hospital needs to maybe make contact on because there's differing information out there and the public are relying on what they're seeing online. A lot of people are very much disappointed that they went in for a couple of days whether it be for a procedure or to be monitored and they found that they lost their vote in the most recent General Election."
Waterford Council says the absence of ballot boxes from hospitals during elections is to be raised with the Courts Service. Several State websites including Citizens Information advise on their website that ballot or postal voting can be accommodated in hospitals similar to those in nursing homes.
Ivan Grimes is a Director of Services with the Council. He says he can see some practical issues.
"The Courts Service is responsible for the General Election. We have responsibility for local elections and it's not something that we've come across in the past, the suggestion, but it is an interesting one. I can see it having practical issues and considerations but we can discuss it with the Courts Service and hopefully there won't be an election for another five years."
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