On the 25th February, 2011 Ireland held a general election to the 31st Dáil. Despite this election being one of the most critical general elections for a generation, almost one million (966,068) people registered on the Register of Electors did not vote. While this is a reduction in the actual number of non-voters over the 2007 general election (1,025,848), the question remains as to why such a large number of potential voters excluded themselves from the electoral process? Fundamental to answering this question is contained in another question: Who are they?
Using the marked registers from the 2011 general election, this research will identify a geographical area within the Waterford constituency with a low level of voter participation and through a series of extensive interviews and desk top research will carry out a case study of this area. The research will be ethnographic in form and is intended to provide an in depth analysis of a group of registered electors who did not vote in the 2011 general election. The result of this case study will be to produce a profile of these individual non-voters within the context of their social environment and, consequently, it is hoped to go beyond the superficial in order to obtain a deeper understanding as to why they did not vote.
Non-voters: the silent 30%. Who are they? A case study of a group of non-voters in the 2011 Irish general election from the Waterford constituency