Labour TD Eamon Gilmore has claimed that the electoral register is out of date and threatens the integrity of the next general election.
Speaking in Dún Laoghaire last night after his reselection as Labour Party candidate for the constituency, Mr Gilmore said there were now 20 per cent more names on the electoral register than people in the State over 18.
In addition, returns from Labour Party activists around the State show there are thousands of voters not on the register.
Mr Gilmore called on the Minister for the Environment to use the census, due in April, to compile an accurate and reliable register of voters for the next general election.
"Local authorities are responsible for compiling the electoral registers, but in recent years the process has not kept pace with housing development and with changes in the workforce and in work patterns," he said.
"Since the last general election there are now 300,000 new houses in the country. People are more frequently out at work when local authority officials call to check voter registration.
"In addition, there has been a major increase in private renting - a sector with a high turnover of tenants. Despite advances in technology, the electoral register is now probably the poorest and most inaccurate in the history of the State.
"Quite simply it is in a mess and wide open to abuse."
Mr Gilmore was the sole Labour candidate at last night's convention for selection to contest the Dún Laoghaire constituency.
The party has not yet decided whether to add a second candidate later.
There has been speculation that Reid professor of criminal law at Trinity College Dublin, Ivana Bacik, who unsuccessfully contested last year's European Parliament election, may be considered as a running mate for Mr Gilmore.
