NO POLLING CARD? BRING SOME OFFICIAL ID

EVERY citizen of Ireland who is aged 18 years or over and whose name is on the register of electors is entitled to vote.

But you have to be ‘ordinarily resident in the State’, meaning that if you have flown home to vote today you may not be eligible.

As a voter, you may have received a polling card in the post.

That card will direct you to a precise table in your polling station where you will receive your ballot. Make sure it is given a seal impression before you take it away to mark it, as it could later be declared illegal.

If you haven’t received your polling card but are on the register of electors, just make sure you bring an official ID to your polling station – say, a public services card, passport, driving licence, student identity card, bank book or credit union book.

Even a bank card and a recent letter to your home address may suffice.

For the first-time voter, ballot paper templates and guides to assist visually impaired voters will be available.

After marking your ballot in one box only, either Tá or Níl, you should fold it over to conceal the whereabouts of your preference and bring it back to the table where you got it, placing it in one of the ballot boxes.

Polling stations are open from 7am until 10pm.

It is illegal to photograph your ballot and/or to upload any image of a marked ballot to the internet.

There will be 26 count centres for the referendum across the country.

Counting is due to get under way at 9am tomorrow.

The results from each area will be reported by the local returning officer to the referendum returning officer at Dublin Castle.

There, the domestic media will be augmented by the major international news agencies, with accredited journalists present from China, Canada, the US, France, Germany, Britain, Denmark, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and further afield.