ELECTORAL ACT, 1923

(1) The returning officer, as soon as practicable after the completion of the issue of the ballot papers and in the presence of the agents, shall make up in separate packets, sealed with his own seal and sealed by such of the agents as desire to affix their seals, the marked copy of the postal voters list and the counterfoils of the ballot papers:

Every returning officer and every officer, clerk or agent authorised to take part in or attend the issuing of ballot papers to postal voters or the opening of the envelopes containing ballot papers sent by postal voters shall before taking part in or attending such issuing or opening sign an undertaking to preserve the secrecy of the ballot in the prescribed form.

In this Schedule the expression “agent” includes the election agent of a candidate, and any person appointed by any such election agent to be present at the issue or opening of postal voters ballot papers.

For the purposes of this Schedule a postal voter's number shall be his number on the postal voters list.

The Returning Officer shall within two days after the day on which he receives the writ, give public notice between the hours of nine in the forenoon and four in the afternoon of the last day on which he will receive nominations and of the day on which (if the election is contested) the poll will be taken and of the days, hours and place on, between, and at which forms of nomination papers may be obtained, and of the time during which and the place at which he will attend to receive nomination papers on the day appointed as the last day for receiving nominations. In every county constituency the Returning Officer shall send one copy of such public notice as aforesaid by post to the postmaster of the principal post office in each polling district in the constituency in an envelope or wrapper endorsed with the words “Notice of Election,” and such notice so endorsed shall be forwarded and delivered by the Post Office free of charge, and each Postmaster to whom a copy of such notice is sent shall upon receipt thereof forthwith publish the same in the manner in which Post Office Notices are usually published.

The time during which the returning officer shall attend to receive nominations on the last day for receiving nominations shall be such two consecutive hours (which two consecutive hours are in these Rules referred to as “the time for receiving nominations”) between the hours of ten in the forenoon and three in the afternoon as the returning officer shall appoint and the returning officer shall attend during those two consecutive hours and during one hour immediately thereafter at the place appointed by him for receiving nominations. Every nomination paper delivered to the returning officer at any time permitted by this Act, but before the commencement of the two hours aforesaid, shall be so delivered to the returning officer in person at any place at which he may be found, and shall be retained by the returning officer and produced by him at the commencement of the two hours aforesaid, and shall for the purposes of these Rules and all other purposes be deemed to have been delivered to him at the beginning of those two hours.

Each candidate shall be nominated by a separate nomination paper, and any elector may subscribe (whether as proposer, seconder, or assenting elector) as many nomination papers as there are vacancies to be filled, but not more.

Each candidate shall be described in the nomination paper in such manner as in the opinion of the returning officer is calculated sufficiently to identify such candidate; the description shall include his names, his abode, and his rank, profession or calling, and his surname shall come first in the statement of his names.

The returning officer shall attend for the purpose of supplying forms of nomination papers at such place and during such two consecutive hours between the hours of ten in the forenoon and two in the afternoon as he shall fix in manner aforesaid on each day intervening between the day on which the public notice under Rule 1 hereof shall have been given and the day appointed as the last day for receiving nominations and shall supply one or more forms of nomination paper to any registered elector who shall apply for same either during the time and at the place aforesaid or during the time for receiving nominations but nothing in this Act shall render obligatory the use of a nomination paper supplied by the returning officer so long as the nomination paper used be in the form prescribed by this Act.

All nomination papers not delivered to the returning officer before the commencement of the time for receiving nominations shall be delivered to the returning officer, during the time for receiving nominations and at the place appointed for that purpose by the returning officer under Rule 1 hereof.

The candidate nominated by each nomination paper and his proposer and seconder, and one other person selected by him, and no other person whatsoever except persons employed by the returning officer for the purpose of assisting him shall be entitled to attend the proceedings during the time for receiving nominations.

If the election is contested the returning officer shall, as soon as practicable after adjourning the election, give public notice of the day on which the poll will be taken and of the names and other particulars of the candidates as described in their respective nomination papers, and of the names of the persons who subscribe the nomination paper of each candidate and of the order in which the names of the candidate will be printed in the ballot paper, and shall in the case of an election for a county constituency deliver to the postmaster of the principal post office of the town in which is situate the place for receiving nominations, a paper signed by himself, containing the names of the candidates nominated and stating the day on which the poll is to be taken, and the postmaster shall forward the information contained in such paper by telegraph, free of charge, to the several postal telegraph offices situate in the constituency for which the election is to be held, and such information shall be published forthwith at each such office in the manner in which post office notices are usually published.

If any duly nominated candidate is duly withdrawn in accordance with the provisions of this Act, the returning officer shall give public notice of the name of such candidate, and the names of the persons who subscribed the nomination paper of such candidate at the same time and in the same manner as he gives notice of the candidates who stood nominated or were elected.

The returning officer shall, on any nomination paper being delivered to him, forthwith publish notice of the name of the person nominated therein as a candidate, and of the names of his proposer and seconder, by placarding or causing to be placarded the names of such candidate and his proposer and seconder in a conspicuous position outside the building in which the returning officer is receiving nominations.

A person shall not be entitled to have his name inserted in any ballot paper as a candidate unless he has been nominated in manner provided by this Act, and every person whose nomination paper has been, or is by these Rules deemed to have been, delivered to the returning officer during the time appointed for receiving nominations shall be deemed to have been nominated in manner provided by this Act, unless objection be made to his nomination paper by the returning officer or some other person before the expiration of the time appointed for receiving nominations or within one hour afterwards.

The returning officer shall decide on the validity of every objection made to a nomination paper, and his decision, if disallowing the objection, shall be final; and if allowing the same, shall be subject to reversal on petition questioning the election or return.

At every polling place the returning officer shall provide a sufficient number of polling stations for the accommodation of the electors entitled to vote at such polling place, and shall distribute the polling stations amongst those electors in such manner as he thinks most convenient

Each polling station shall be furnished with such number of compartments, in which the voters can mark their votes screened from observation, as the returning officer thinks necessary, but at least one compartment shall be provided for every one hundred and fifty electors entitled to vote at such polling station.

A separate room or separate booth may contain a separate polling station, or several polling stations may be constructed in the same room or booth.

No person shall be admitted to vote at any polling station, except the one allotted to him.

The returning officer shall give public notice of the situation of polling stations, and the description of electors entitled to vote at each station, and of the mode in which electors are to vote.

The returning officer shall provide each polling station with materials for voters to mark the ballot papers, with instruments for stamping thereon the official mark, and with copies of the register of electors or such part thereof as contains the names of the electors allotted to vote at such station. He shall keep the official mark secret, and an interval of not less than seven years shall intervene between each use of the same official mark at elections for the same constituency.

The returning officer shall appoint a presiding officer to preside at each polling station, and the officer so appointed shall keep order at his station, shall regulate the number of electors to be admitted at a time, and shall exclude all other persons except the clerks, the agents of the candidates, and the police constables on duty.

Every ballot paper shall contain a list of the candidates described as in their respective nomination papers and arranged alphabetically in the order of their surnames, and (if there are two or more candidates with the same surname) of their other names; it shall be in the form contained in Part III. of this Schedule, or as near thereto as circumstances admit and shall be capable of being folded up.

Every ballot box shall be so constructed that, without the box being unlocked, the ballot papers can be introduced therein, but cannot be withdrawn therefrom. The presiding officer at each polling station, immediately before the commencement of the poll, shall show the ballot box empty to such persons, if any, as may then be present in such station, so that they may see that it is empty, and shall then lock it up, and place his seal upon it in such manner as to prevent its being opened without breaking such seal, and shall place it in his view for the receipt of ballot papers, and keep it so locked and sealed.

Immediately before a ballot paper is delivered to an elector it shall be marked on both sides with the official mark, either stamped or perforated, and the number, name, and description of the elector as stated in the copy of the register of electors shall be called out, and the number of such elector shall be marked on the counterfoil, and a mark shall be placed in the register against the number of the elector, to denote that he has received a ballot paper, but without showing the particular ballot paper which he has received.

The elector, on receiving the ballot paper, shall forthwith proceed into one of the compartments in the polling station, and there mark his paper, and fold it up so as to conceal his vote, and shall then put his ballot paper, so folded up, into the ballot box; he shall vote without undue delay, and shall quit the polling station as soon as he has put his ballot paper into the ballot box.

If any elector satisfies the presiding officer that

If a person, representing himself to be a particular elector named on the register, applies for a ballot paper after another person has voted as such elector, the applicant shall, upon duly answering the questions and taking the oath or affirmation permitted by law to be asked of and to be administered to voters at the time of polling, be entitled to mark a ballot paper in the same manner as any other elector, but the ballot paper (in this Act called a tendered ballot paper) shall be of a colour differing from the other ballot papers, and instead of being put into the ballot box, shall be given to the presiding officer and endorsed by him with the name of the voter and his number in the register of electors, and set aside in a separate packet and shall not be counted by the returning officer, and the name of such elector and his number on the register shall be entered on the tendered votes list in the prescribed form.

A voter who has inadvertently dealt with his ballot paper in such manner that it cannot be conveniently used as a ballot paper, may, on delivering to the presiding officer the ballot paper so inadvertently dealt with, and proving the fact of the inadvertence to the satisfaction of the presiding officer, obtain another ballot paper in the place of the ballot paper so delivered up (in this Act called a spoilt ballot paper), and the spoilt ballot paper shall be immediately cancelled.

The presiding officer at each polling station, as soon as practicable after the close of the poll, shall, in the presence of the agentsof the candidates, make up into separate packets sealed with his own seal and the seals of such agents of the candidates, as desire to affix their seals—

The packets shall be accompanied by a statement in the prescribed form made by the presiding officer, showing the number of ballot papers entrusted to him, and accounting for them under the heads of (a) ballot papers in the ballot box; (b) unused ballot papers; (c) spoilt ballot papers, and (d) tendered ballot papers which statement is in this Act referred to as the ballot paper account.

The candidates may respectively appoint agents to attend the counting of the votes.

The returning officer shall make arrangements for counting the votes in the presence of the agents of the candidates, as soon as practicable after the close of the poll, and shall give to the agents of the candidates appointed to attend at the counting of the votes notice in writing of the time and place at which he will begin to count the same

The returning officer, his assistant and clerks, and the agents of the candidates, and no other person, except with the sanction of the Returning Officer, may be present at the counting of the votes.

Before the returning officer proceeds to count the votes, he shall, in the presence of the agents of the candidates open each ballot box and, taking out the papers therein, shall count and record the number thereof, and then mix together the whole of the ballot papers contained in the ballot boxes. The returning officer while counting and recording the number of ballot papers and counting the votes, shall keep the ballot papers with their faces upwards, and take all proper precautions for preventing any person from seeing the numbers printed on the backs of such papers.

The returning officer shall, so far as practicable proceed continously with counting the votes, allowing only time for refreshment, and excluding (except so far as he and the agents otherwise agree) the hours between seven o'clock at night and nine o'clock on the succeeding morning During the excluded time the returning officer shall place the ballot papers and other documents relating to the election under his own seal and the seals of such of the agents of the candidates as desire to affix their seals, and shall otherwise take proper precautions for the security of such papers and documents.

The returning officer shall endorse “rejected” on any ballot paper which he may reject as invalid, and shall add to the endorsement “rejection objected to,” if an objection be in fact made by any agent to his decision. The returning officer shall report to the Clerk of the Dáil the number of ballot papers rejected and not counted by him under the several heads following, that is to say:—

Want of official mark;

Invalid under paragraphs (a), (b), (c) or (d) of subsection (4) of section 26 of the Electoral Act, 1923;

Writing or mark by which voter could be identified;

Unmarked or void for uncertainty

Upon the completion of the counting, the returning officer shall seal up in separate packets the counted ballot papers and the rejected ballot papers. He shall not open the sealed packets containing the tendered ballot papers and the marked copy of the register of electors and counterfoils, respectively, but shall proceed, in the presence of the agents of the candidates, to verify the ballot paper account given by each presiding officer by comparing it with the number of ballot papers recorded by him as aforesaid, and the unused and spoilt ballot papers in his possession and the tendered votes list, and shall reseal each sealed packet after examination. The returning officer shall report to the Clerk of the Dáil the result of such verification, and shall, on request, allow the agent of any candidate, before such report is sent, to copy it.

Lastly, the returning officer shall send to the Clerk of the Dáil all the packets of ballot papers in his possession, together with the said reports, the ballot paper accounts, tendered votes lists, and packets of counterfoils, and marked copies of registers sent by each presiding officer, endorsing on each packet a description of its contents and the date of the election to which they relate, and the name of the constituency for which such election was held

The Clerk of the Dáil shall retain for a year all documents relating to an election sent to him in pursuance of these Rules by a returning officer and then, unless otherwise directed by an Order of the Dáil or of the High Court shall cause them to be destroyed.

No person shall be allowed to inspect any rejected ballot papers in the custody of the Clerk of the Dáil, except under an Order of the Dáil or under an Order of the High Court, to be granted by such court on being satisfied by evidence on oath that the inspection or production of such ballot papers is required for the purpose of instituting or maintaining a prosecution for an offence in relation to ballot papers, or for the purpose of a petition questioning an election or return; and any such Order for the inspection or production of ballot papers may be made subject to such conditions as to persons, time, place, and mode of inspection or production as the Dáil or the court making the same may think expedient, and shall be obeyed by the Clerk of the Dáil. Any power given to a court by this rule may be exercised by any judge of such court at chambers.

No person shall, except by Order of the Dáil or of a tribunal having cognizance of petitions complaining of undue returns or undue elections, open the sealed packet of counterfoils after the same has been sealed up, or be allowed to inspect any counted ballot papers in the custody of the Clerk of the Dáil; any such Order may be made subject to such conditions as to persons, time, place, and mode of opening or inspection as the Dáil or tribunal making the order may think expedient: Provided that on making and carrying into effect any such Order, care shall be taken that the mode in which any particular elector has voted shall not be discovered until he has been proved to have voted, and his vote has been declared by a competent court to be invalid.

All documents sent by a returning officer in pursuance of these Rules to the Clerk of the Dáil, other than ballot papers and counterfoils, shall be open to public inspection at such time and under such regulations as may be prescribed by the Clerk of the Dáil. The Clerk of the Dáil shall supply copies of or extracts from the said documents to any person demanding the same, on payment of such fees and subject to such regulations as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance

Where an Order is made for the production by the Clerk of the Dáil of any document in his possession relating to any specified election, the production by the Clerk of the Dáil or his agent of the document ordered, in such manner as may be directed by such Order, or by a rule of the Court having power to make such Order, shall be conclusive evidence that such document relates to the specified election; and any endorsement appearing on any packet of ballot papers produced by the Clerk of the Dáil or his agent shall be conclusive evidence of such papers being what they are stated to be on such endorsement. The production from proper custody of a ballot paper purporting to have been used at any election, and of a counterfoil marked with the same printed number and having a number marked thereon in writing shall be prima-facie evidence that the person who voted by such ballot paper was the person who at the time of such election had affixed to his name in the register of electors at such election the same number as the number written on such counterfoil.

The return of a member or members elected to serve in the Dáil for any constituency shall be made by a certificate of the names of such member or members under the hand of the returning officer endorsed on the writ of election for such constituency, and the returning officer may, if he thinks fit deliver the writ with such certificate endorsed thereon to the postmaster of the principal post office of the place of election, or his deputy, and in such case he shall take a receipt from the postmaster or his deputy for the same; and such postmaster or his deputy shall then forward the same by the first post, free of charge, under cover, to the Clerk of the Dáil with the words “Election Writ and return” endorsed thereon.

The returning officer shall, as soon as possible give public notice in the prescribed form of the names of the candidates elected, and also in the case of a contested election, of the total number of votes given for each candidate whether elected or not. The returning officer shall also give public notice of any transfer of votes made under this Act, and of the total number of votes credited to each candidate at the end of the count at which such transfer took place in accordance with the form set out in Part III. of this Schedule, or in a form to the like effect.

Where the returning officer is required or authorised by this Act to give any public notice, he shall carry such requirement into effect by advertisements, placards, handbills, or such other means as he thinks best calculated to afford information to the electors.

The returning officer may, if he thinks fit, preside at any polling station, and the provisions of this Act relating to a presiding officer shall apply to such returning officer with the necessary modifications as to things to be done by the returning officer to the presiding officer, or by the presiding officer to the returning officer.

In the case of a contested election for any constituency the returning officer may, in addition to any clerks, appoint competent persons to assist him in counting the votes.

No person shall be employed by a returning officer for any purpose relating to an election who has been employed by any other person in or about that election.

The presiding officer may do, by the clerks appointed to assist him, any act which he is required or authorised to do by this Act at a polling station except ordering the arrest, exclusion, or rejection from the polling station of any person.

A candidate may himself undertake the duties which any agent of his, if appointed, might have undertaken, or may assist his agent in the performance of such duties, and may be present at any place, at which his agent may, in pursuance of this Act, attend.

The name and address of every agent of a candidate appointed to attend the counting of the votes shall be transmitted to the returning officer one clear day at the least before the opening of the poll; and the returning officer may refuse to admit to the place where the votes are counted any agent whose name and address has not been transmitted, notwithstanding that his appointment may be otherwise valid, and any notice required to be given to an agent by the returning officer may be delivered at or sent by post to such address.

If any person appointed an agent by a candidate for the purpose of attending at a polling station, or at the counting of the votes, dies, or becomes incapable of acting during the time of the election, the candidate may appoint another agent in his place, and shall forthwith give to the returning officer notice in writing of the name and address of the agent so appointed

Every returning officer, and every officer, clerk, or agent authorised to attend at a polling station, or at the counting of the votes, shall, before the opening of the poll sign an undertaking to preserve the secrecy of the ballot in the prescribed form and no returning officer, clerk, or agent as aforesaid, shall, save as aforesaid, be required, as such, to make any declaration or take any oath on the occasion of any election

Where in this Act expressions are used requiring or authorising or inferring that any act or thing is to be done in the presence of the agents of the candidates, such expressions shall be deemed to refer to the presence of such agents of the candidates as may be authorised to attend and as may in fact attend at the time and place where such act or thing is being done, and the non-attendance of any agents or agent at such time and place shall not, if such act or thing be otherwise duly done, in anywise invalidate the act or thing done.

The expression ‘Returning Officer’ in this Schedule includes any deputy Returning Officer appointed by the Returning Officer with the consent of the Minister for Local Government, for the discharge of any or all of the duties of such Returning Officer.

In an election held according to the principle of proportional representation the Presiding Officer shall ask the voter—”For which candidates do you desire to express a preference, and in what order?” and shall mark the ballot paper accordingly: Provided that where an elector fails to understand the import of such question, or does not give definite directions as to the marking of the ballot paper, the Presiding Officer—

The Presiding Officer shall not accept, consider or act upon any paper or document purporting to show the manner, in which the voter desires to give his vote, or express a preference, and shall not mark the ballot paper of the voter otherwise than after compliance, and in accordance with the provisions of the preceding article hereof

Within three days after the panel of candidates for any Seanad election has been formed the Clerkof the Seanad shall send to the Seanad Returning Officer a copy of such panel so far as the same relates to candidates nominated by the Seanad and within the same period of three days the Clerk of the Dáil shall send to the Seanad Returning Officer a copy of such panel so far as the same relates to candidates nominated by the Dáil.

Immediately upon the issue of the Proclamation appointing the day on which the Seanad election is to take place the Seanad Returning Officer shall send to each Constituency Returning Officer a copy of the Proclamation and a copy of the panel of candidates for that election.

Each Constituency Returning Officer shall, within two days after he receives the said copy of the Proclamation and copy of the panel give public notice (in the same manner as is prescribed in Rule 1 of the Fifth Schedule to this Act for the publication of the matters therein mentioned) of the day on which the election will be held and of the names and all other particulars of the candidates as same are stated in the copy of the panel furnished to him as aforesaid. Every such public notice shall be in the prescribed form.

The ballot papers at a Seanad Election shall be in the form set out in Part II. of this Schedule and the Seanad Returning Officer shall provide all the ballot papers required for the election, and shall furnish to each Constituency Returning Officer a sufficient number of ballot papers for the efficient conduct of the election in his constituency.

Each Constituency Returning Officer shall conduct the Seanad Election in his constituency on the appointed day in the same manner in all respects as he is required by Part III. of this Act, the Third and Fourth Schedules to this Act, and Rules Nos. 13 to 19 and 21 to 34 and 44 to 53, inclusive, of Part I., and the whole of Part II. of the Fifth Schedule to this Act to conduct a poll at a general election in his Constituency, and the Schedules and Rules aforesaid shall apply to a Seanad Election, save that the Returning Officer shall not proceed further with the counting of the votes than the arrangement of the papers in parcels according to the first preferences recorded for each candidate and the ascertainment of the number of papers in each such parcel, but shall then proceed as directed by the next following rule.

Each Constituency Returning Officer immediately on the completion of the counting of the votes to the extent mentioned in the preceding Rule shall seal up in separate packets the several parcels of papers containing the first preferences recorded for each candidate, and shall endorse on each such packet a statement of the number of such papers in the packet, and of the name of the candidate for whom the first preferences are recorded on such papers, and shall send same to the Seanad Returning Officer.

Each Constituency Returning Officer shall then comply with the provisions of Rule 9 (4) of the Fourth Schedule and Rules 34, 35, and 36 in Part I. of the Fifth Schedule to this Act, with the modification that he shall report or send to the Seanad Returning Officer the things he is by those Rules required to report or send to the Clerk of the Dáil.

As soon as the Seanad Returning Officer has received from all the Constituency Returning Officers all the packets, reports and other matters which such officers are by these Rules required to send to him the Seanad Returning Officer shall appoint the time and place at which he will proceed to count the votes, and shall at that time and place count the votes in accordance with the Rules contained in the Third Schedule to this Act.

As soon as the counting of the votes is completed the Seanad Returning Officer shall send to the Clerk of the Seanad and also to the Clerk of the Dáil a certificate in the form contained in Part II. of this Schedule, stating the names of the candidates elected, the total number of votes given for each candidate (whether elected or not), any transfer of votes made under this Act, and of the total number of votes credited to each candidate at the end of the count at which such transfer took place, and shall also publish a copy of such certificate in the Iris Oifigiúil.

The Seanad Returning Officer shall then send to the Clerk of the Seanad all such papers, packets, and things as a returning officer is by Rule 9 (4) of the Fourth Schedule, and Rule 36 in Part I. of the Fifth Schedule to this Act required to send to the Clerk of the Dáil, and Rules 37 to 41, inclusive, in Part I. of the Fifth Schedule to this Act shall apply to the papers, packets, and other things so sent to the Clerk of the Seanad with the substitution of the Seanad Returning Officer and the Clerk of the Seanad for the Returning Officer and the Clerk of the Dáil, respectively.

The expression “Constituency Returning Officer” shall in this Schedule mean a person who is under this Act the Returning Officer for a Dáil Constituency.

The Clerk of the Dáil immediately upon the publication of the Proclamation appointing the day on which a Referendum is to be taken shall send to the Returning Officer in each constituency a copy of such Proclamation and copies of the Bill to which such Referendum relates.

Each Returning Officer shall, within two days after he receives the said copy of the Proclamation, give public notice (in the same manner as is prescribed in Rule 1 of the Fifth Schedule to this Act for the publication of the matters therein mentioned) of the day on which the Referendum will be taken and of the times and places at which a copy of the Bill to which such Referendum relates can be inspected. Every such public notice shall be in the prescribed form.

Any Proclamation issued before the day fixed for the coming into force of the first register prepared under this Act shall, for the purpose of taking a Referendum, be deemed to have been issued on the day fixed for the coming into force of the said Register, and any dates fixed by or under this Act or by any such Proclamation aforesaid, at or during which anything is to be done shall be postponed accordingly.

The Returning Officer shall make a copy of the said Bill available for inspection by the public, at each of the places at which documents are made available for inspection, in accordance with Rule 30 of the First Schedule of this Act, during three hours between the hours of ten in the forenoon and four in the afternoon on every day intervening between the publication of the notice aforesaid and the day on which the Referendum is taken.