When will it register?

Please excuse me if I’m being naïve here. I’m just trying to get my head around the whole voter registration situation, or should I say the lack of it.

As I see it, most people in this jurisdiction are born in a maternity ward. Should their guardians wish to obtain their birth certificate, they simply go to their local office and it’s handed to them once the civil servants verify the appropriate information.

In other words, in the vast majority of cases, the Government knows when you are alive.

As Comrade Bertski & Co love to point out, unemployment is quite low in this country. This means that most people of working age are known to be doing so as they are paying their relevant taxes.

In other words, in the vast majority of cases, the Government knows when you are old enough to work.

As I see it, most people’s deaths are officially proclaimed by a medical professional and subsequently recorded. Should the deceased’s family wish to obtain their death certificate, they simply go to their local office and it’s handed to them once the civil servants verify the appropriate information.

In other words, in the vast majority of cases, the Government knows when you are dead.

This is, of course, data they have before one even mentions the word “census.”

If all this is true, then why the hell can’t the Government accurately work out who is eligible to vote?

It seems to be very simple to me and every excuse which is offered by our Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government appears feeble at best, a national disgrace at worst.

It isn’t rocket science, Mr Roche. You have the information, all you have to do is use it. If you really want to, that is.