#HomeToVote is a Twitter hashtag and

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

campaign in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

that urged Irish people abroad to return home to vote for

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

in 2015 and to repeal the country's abortion ban in 2018. Although

postal voting Postal voting is voting in an election where ballot papers are distributed to electors (and typically returned) by Mail, post, in contrast to electors voting in person at a polling place, polling station or electronically via an electronic voti ...

is allowed in elections to

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann ( ; ; "Senate of Ireland") is the senate of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (defined as the house of representatives). It is commonly called the Seanad or ...

and arrangements exist for the families of military and diplomatic staff posted overseas to vote by post, the general rule is that voting in Irish elections must be done in person. Under the 1992 Electoral Act, Irish citizens retain their right to vote in Irish elections for 18 months only after taking residence in another country. This is based on the condition that the voter intends to return to Ireland. In 2015, voters in favour of

used social media to encourage Irish expatriates to return to Ireland to vote in favour of same-sex marriage. The hashtag was tweeted 72,000 times, ranking fifth in Twitter's news trends of the year. In April 2018, abortion rights activists used the hashtag to capitalize on the energy from three years prior, encouraging Irish citizens abroad to return home and vote to repeal the Eighth Amendment, an amendment asserting equal rights between a pregnant woman and her fetus.

Origin

2015 referendum to legalize same-sex marriage

On May 22, 2015, Irish citizens voted to approve the

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

to recognize marriage between any two partners. Under Irish law, there are few options for voting by mail. After the financial crisis in 2008, 250,000 Irish citizens emigrated for economic reasons, 70% of whom were in their 20s. In order to secure the right to same-sex marriage, citizens took to social media with the hashtag #HomeToVote to ask eligible voters to return home to Ireland to fight for same-sex marriage.

2018 referendum to repeal Ireland's abortion ban

London-based group London-Irish Abortion Rights Campaign (ARC) encouraged Irish citizens who had lived in Ireland in the previous 18 months to return to Ireland to vote in the historic opportunity to repeal Ireland's abortion ban. In April 2018, ARC released a video encouraging the 40,000 Irish citizens abroad who are eligible to vote to return and vote to repeal the Eighth Amendment. The campaign was inspired by Ireland's vote three years prior to legalize same-sex marriage, which brought thousands of Irish citizens home. Some Irish voters cited the 3,500 women who travel to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

for abortion care as inspiration for their journeys home to vote.

Voting outcomes

Same-sex marriage

Ireland overwhelmingly voted to support the referendum, making them the world's first country to legalize same-sex marriage by popular vote. 1,201,607 people, or 62% of the electorate, voted in favor of legalization.

Abortion rights

On May 25, 2018, Ireland held a referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment and replace it with a clause that allows legislation to regulate

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

s. The referendum allowed Irish citizens the opportunity to reform their abortion laws for the first time in 35 years.{{Cite web, url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/may/26/ireland-has-changed-utterly-the-cruel-eighth-amendment-is-history, title=Ireland has changed utterly: the cruel eighth amendment is history {{! Ivana Bacik, last=Bacik, first=Ivana, date=2018-05-26, website=the Guardian, language=en, access-date=2018-05-26 The referendum passed with a landslide victory, repealing one of the world's most restrictive bans on abortion.

Reach and impact

The hashtag #HomeToVote was tweeted 72,000 times leading up to the referendum vote for same-sex marriage in 2015, ranking fifth in Twitter's news trends that year. Between May 23 and the afternoon of May 24, the hashtag was mentioned 43,096 times on social media in support of legalizing abortion services.

References

Hashtags Social media campaigns Same-sex marriage in the Republic of Ireland 2015 in the Republic of Ireland 2018 in the Republic of Ireland Expatriate voting