Election posters image via Luke Maxwell
It hasn’t been a long political campaign, but the voting Irish public will take to the polls today for General Election 2016 to decide who will make up the next Government, and we’ve gotten a nice Doodle, too.
The polls for today’s General Election 2016 have now officially opened, and will remain so until 10pm this evening, and while we’re given a break from listening to politicians on the campaign trail, there’s still plenty of interest and trepidation over how this election is going to go.
With many predicting the outcome of a hung Dáil – which would see us take to the polls again in the near future – the Irish public will likely have to get used to the campaigning for another bit yet.
Anyhow, to mark the occasion, Google has gone ahead and curated our very own Google Doodle to encourage us to head to the voting booth at some stage today in both English agus as Gaeilge (vótáil inniu!)
Last-minute tips
While we’re on the subject of voting, there’s some good things to not do when you take to the polls today, which many learnt about at last May’s Marriage Equality referendum, with regard to the dos and don’ts at the polling station.
For certain, the polling booth is a selfie-free zone, while your overwhelming desire to take a photo of you with the ballot paper might be your one-person crusade for people to acknowledge you exercising your democratic right, it could see you end up with no vote at all if a polling station member catches you.
But, as Tánaiste Joan Burton showed, you are still allowed to take a selfie outside of the polling station.
If you’re really adamant that you want to be seen voting on social media, Facebook will be letting users create a post that says you have voted.
Likewise, as much as you like one particular party or politician, your lapel full of party badges is also a major no-no, with polling states banning any party promotion at the polls.
So, if you’re reading this and still fretting over who you’re actually going to vote for, then you might want to check out our piece that lets you use technology to help you cast your vote and weed out the politicians you didn’t realise disagree with your beliefs.
Oh, and, of course, don’t forget your identification and polling card (if you have it) to save you any hassle and ensure you actually get to vote.
If you want to keep up with how voting is going across the country, you’re probably best to keep an eye on the hashtag #GE16 on Twitter, which should give a good flavour of the day’s events.
