An Coimisiún Toghcháin, the Republic’s independent elections watchdog, took to the streets in Dublin city centre on Thursday to remind voters to cast their ballot in Friday’s Dublin Central and Galway West byelections. Wearing bright yellow T-shirts, members of the Electoral Commission’s team shared information with potential voters and handed out leaflets on O’Connell Street the day before polling. Art O’Leary, the commission’s chief executive, said that while the stakes for a byelection aren’t as high as a general election, it is important that constituents “look at all the candidates there and find someone you would like to represent you”. He said 900 new voters have registered during the commission’s campaign in Dublin Central, and stressed for voters, new and old, the importance of sticking to the numbers on the paper to avoid spoiling their vote. “This may be the year that the Dubs reclaim the All-Ireland but writing ‘Up the Dubs’ on your ballot paper may result in your vote not counting,” he said.The commission, which oversees the Electoral Register and monitors political advertising spending and misinformation as part of its remit, may seem an unusual canvasser. Communications officer Brian Dawson said that the raison d’être for campaigns such as Thursday’s is to show that “we are on the side of the voter”. The commission provides online sample ballots and guidance on how to approach voting in the State’s proportional representation system. Last year, it had a presence at both Electric Picnic in Co Laois and the Ploughing Championships in Co Offaly.A new initiative this year is voting stickers, available at one polling station in Galway West and eight in Dublin Central. Voters will receive a sticker reading “I’m a voter” or “is vótálaí mé” once they cast their ballot.The commission was established in 2023 under the Electoral Reform Act, 2022. Flower seller Paul Stanley with Rebecca Boyce and Art O’Leary of An Coimisiún Toghcháin in central Dublin on Thursday. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw On the emerging impact of artificial intelligence on voter misinformation, O’Leary said he has met counterparts all over the world and it is “the first item on all of our agendas”. The deepfake video of Catherine Connolly that circulated during the 2025 presidential election “really opened peoples’ eyes”, he said. He added that the Electoral Commission has met social media platforms including Meta, Google and X to discuss the subject.Research from the commission suggests that more than 90 per cent of people in the State believe elections are run fairly.[ In some counties more people were registered to vote than the local population. The Electoral Commission is racing to ‘close the gap’Opens in new window ]Last May, the commission began working on a multiyear project to remove any possible voter fraud from the Electoral Register. This would entail all local authorities moving their data on to a single database, and require new voters to provide their PPS number and verify their address in Government records. In 2024, in a third of the State’s local authority areas, more people were registered to vote than were living there, according to an oversight report from the commission. However, O’Leary said there is “little evidence of electoral fraud” and that the issues affecting the register are “legacy issues”, due to its age. Voters can get a sticker after they cast their ballot. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw He said a “huge amount of resources” has been invested by local authorities in creating a single database.“Three hundred thousand deletions means the register is much more accurate and much more complete than it was two years ago, but it’s a work in progress,” he said.The Electoral Commission aims for local authorities to be in a better position in this regard in time for the next general election in 2029.Voting in Dublin Central and Galway West will take place on Friday from 7am-10pm.