When will the referendums be held and why?
Two referendums will be held on 8th March 2024 for Irish citizens to decide if Article 41 of the Irish
Constitution should be changed. Articles 40 to 44 of the Constitution set out certain fundamental
rights people living in Ireland have.
A constitutional referendum gives Irish citizens the opportunity to decide whether or not the
wording of the Constitution will change. There have been 38 constitutional referendums to date, and
32 of them have been approved.
What am I being asked to decide on?
You are being asked to vote on 2 referendums to change the Constitution. These changes are called
the Family Amendment (the 39 th Amendment) and the Care Amendment (the 40 th Amendment).
The Family Amendment concerns the concept of family in the Constitution and deals with Articles
41.1.1°and 41.3.1°. In this amendment, there is one vote for 2 proposed changes – adding additional
text to Article 41.1.1° and deleting text in Article 41.3.1°.
The Care Amendment concerns Articles 41.2.1° and 41.2.2° which deal with the role of women in
the home. In this amendment, there is one vote for 2 proposed changes – deleting Articles 41.2.1°
and 41.2.2°, and inserting a new Article, 42B, which deals with care provided by family members.
You can read more about these proposed amendments on the Electoral Commission’s website.
Can I vote in the referendum?
To vote in a referendum, you must be:
An Irish citizen
At least 18 years old
Registered to vote
You can check that you are registered to vote on checktheregister.ie. To vote in the referendum, you
must be registered, or register any change of details, by 20 February 2024.
The deadline for postal and special voting arrangements passed on 12 February 2024.
Where do I vote and what do the ballot papers look like?
If you are registered to vote, your polling card with information on your polling station will be posted
to you before polling day. The polling station will be open from 7am to 10pm. You need to bring a
valid form of personal identification to your polling station.
The Family Amendment will be on a white coloured ballot paper. The Care Amendment will be on a
green coloured ballot paper. You can read more about voting in a referendum.
Read more about the referendums on https://bit.ly/referendums-in-Ireland, or call us on 0818 07
4000 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm).
The above information has been compiled by South Connacht Citizens Information Service CLG,
which provides a free and confidential service to the public. Tel: 0818 07 6330 Address:
Boyle CIC, Elphin Street, Boyle, Co. Roscommon. Information is also available online at citizensinformation.ie and from the Citizens Information
Phone Service, 0818 07 4000.
