Observe early, observe often
Alan in Belfast is encouraging people to sign up as election observers and interestingly notes you no longer have to ‘respect the sovereignty of the United Kingdom’ to get the pass. You can read his previous blog on his experience as an observer at the European elections.
I’ve observed a few elections myself (though as poacher, not gamekeeper), it’s an interesting experience for any political anorak and I’d encourage all nerds to experience it once. Plus – we’d love extra content to leech off come election time
I do not respect some of the laws – that is me out
Coll,
I’m reliably informed that finger crossing is overlooked ;0)
I am a man of principle – honest
I observed once and it was an interesting day.
Reading Alan’s blog reminded me one one of my pet peeves since coming to Canada; the ballot papers here are black with small white circles to mark your x. Nowhere to write a decent essay.
I do recommend that budding election observers consider also the possibility of going abroad.
There is an EU roster of election observers which you can apply to join here.
The UK Foreign Office also sends people to OSCE election observation missions, though farms out the roster to several NGOs, listed at the bottom of this page. The equivalent page on the Irish Aid site seems to be inaccessible right now.