EXPLAINER: All you need to know about this Friday's votes

Voters across the country will go to the polls for the first time in more than four years this Friday as Ireland votes in two referendums.

Polling stations will open at 7am and will close at 10pm as hundreds of thousands of people have their say on whether to accept or reject two proposed changes to the Constitution.

Upon arrival at polling stations - which remain largely unchanged from the 2020 general election - voters will be given two slips of paper - one white and one green.

The white sheet of paper will ask people to vote on the family amendment. In this, there is one vote for two proposed changes.

The proposals involve the insertion of additional text to article 41.1.1 of the Constitution and the deletion of text in article 41.3.1.

The green sheet of paper will ask people to vote on the care amendment. It proposes deleting articles 41.2.1 and 41.2.2 of the Constitution and inserting a new article, 42b.

These proposed changes can be found online here, or by calling 01-888-2780.

Voters will be asked to vote yes or no to each proposal.

️Tomorrow Friday 8 March is polling day for the Referendums on Family and Care.

⏰Polls open at 7am and close at 10pm.

✨You don’t need to have your polling information card with you, but you should bring valid ID.

More info: https://t.co/y6KbJCxkwK#YourVoteYourVoice pic.twitter.com/k1itBrqJOC

— An Coimisiún Toghcháin, The Electoral Commission (@ElecCommIRL) March 7, 2024

Irish citizens, aged 18 or over living in the State and on the electoral register are allowed to cast a vote on Friday.

If you are eligible to vote, you should have received a polling card in the post informing you of your local polling station.

If you do not receive a card, you should contact your local council or returning officer.

At the polling station, you are advised to bring some valid form of photographic identification.

After polling closes on Friday evening, ballot papers will be transferred from polling stations to local count centres across the country.

The counting of votes will begin at nine o’clock on Saturday morning.

The votes will be counted on the basis of the current Dail constituency boundaries and as they are completed, the local results will be fed to officials at the national count centre at Dublin Castle.

The overall results of both referendums are expected to be known by early on Saturday evening.