SEANAD ELECTORAL (PANEL MEMBERS) ACT, 1937

42.—(1) On the day appointed for the issue of ballot papers at a Seanad election the Seanad returning officer shall send by registered post to each person whose name is on the electoral roll for that election at the address stated on such electoral roll a ballot paper together with a form of declaration of identity.

• (2) Whenever a person to whom a ballot paper for a Seanad election should be sent under the foregoing sub-section of this section states in writing to the Seanad returning officer that more than twenty-four hours have elapsed since such ballot paper should have been delivered to him in the ordinary course of post and that he has not received such ballot paper and that he desires a duplicate ballot paper and declaration of identity to be issued to him, the Seanad returning officer, if such statement is received by him not less than forty-eight hours before the close of the poll at such election, shall forthwith or, if such statement is received by him less than forty-eight hours before the close of the poll at such election, may send by registered post to such person at the address mentioned in the foregoing sub-section a ballot paper and a declaration of identity all of which, by being printed on paper of a special colour or otherwise, are clearly distinguished as duplicates of the ballot paper and form of declaration of identity originally sent to such person under this section.

• (3) Every declaration of identity shall be in the prescribed form.

• (4) The Seanad returning officer shall, when sending out ballot papers in pursuance of this section, observe the rules contained in the First Schedule to this Act.

43 Method of voting.

43.—(1) Every person entitled to vote at a Seanad election shall be entitled to vote at that election in the following and no other manner, that is to say, by marking and returning by registered or ordinary post to the Seanad returning officer the ballot paper sent to him under this section together with the form of declaration of identity similarly sent to him therewith duly made and completed by him.

• (2) Whenever a person entitled to vote at a Seanad election states in writing to the Seanad returning officer that he duly returned by registered post to the Seanad returning officer the ballot paper and form of declaration of identity sent to him under this section and that the same does not appear to have been delivered to the Seanad returning officer and that he desires a duplicate ballot paper and declaration of identity to be issued to him, the Seanad returning officer, if such statement is received by him not less than forty-eight hours before the close of the poll at such election, shall forthwith or, if such statement is received by him less than forty-eight hours before the close of the poll at such election, may send by registered post to such person at his address as stated on the electoral roll a ballot paper together with a form of declaration of identity all of which, by being printed on paper of a special colour or otherwise, are clearly distinguished as duplicates of the ballot paper and form of declaration of identity originally sent to such person under this section.

• (3) The Seanad returning officer in receiving and otherwise dealing with the ballot papers at a Seanad election shall observe the rules contained in the First Schedule to this Act.

44 Allocation of members amongst the panels.

44.—The numbers of members of Seanad Eireann to be elected from each of the panels shall be as follows, that is to say:—

• (a) five members shall be elected from the cultural and educational panel, of whom one shall be elected from the Dáil sub-panel of that panel and four shall be elected from the nominating bodies sub-panel of the said panel;

• (b) eleven members shall be elected from the agricultural panel, of whom six shall be elected from the Dáil sub-panel of that panel and five shall be elected from the nominating bodies sub-panel of the said panel;

• (c) eleven members shall be elected from the labour panel, of whom six shall be elected from the Dáil sub-panel of that panel, and five shall be elected from the nominating bodies sub-panel of the said panel;

• (d) nine members shall be elected from the industrial and commercial panel, of whom five shall be elected from the Dáil sub-panel of that panel and four shall be elected from the nominating bodies sub-panel of the said panel;

• (e) seven members shall be elected from the administrative panel, of whom four shall be elected from the Dáil sub-panel of that panel and three shall be elected from the nominating bodies sub-panel of the said panel.

45 Ascertainment of the result of the election.

45.—(1) As soon as conveniently may be after the closing of the poll, the Seanad returning officer shall, in the presence of such candidates as may be in attendance, ascertain separately, in accordance with this Act and in particular the rules contained in the First and Second Schedules to this Act, the result of the election in respect of each panel and shall declare to be elected from such panel the candidates who are so ascertained to be elected.

• (2) The decision of the Seanad returning officer as to any question arising on the ballot papers, the declarations of identity, or the envelopes containing the same or any other matter arising on the issue or the receipt of the ballot papers or on the counting of the votes shall be final, subject to review by a court trying an election petition in relation to the election.

46 Preservation of the secrecy of the voting.

46.—(1) The Seanad returning officer and every officer and clerk concerned in the issue or the receipt of the ballot papers or the counting of the votes at a Seanad election and every candidate present at such issue, receipt, or counting shall maintain and aid in maintaining the secrecy of the voting at such election and shall not, before the completion of the election, communicate, except for some purpose authorised by law, any information as to whether any elector has or has not voted at such election or as to the official mark, and shall not at any time communicate to any person any information obtained at or in connection with such issue, receipt, or counting as to the candidate for whom any elector has voted or as to whether any elector has or has not voted or as to the number on the back of the ballot paper sent to any elector.

• (2) No person shall interfere with or attempt to interfere with the receipt, marking, or return of his ballot paper by any elector at a Seanad election.

• (3) No person shall directly or indirectly induce any elector at a Seanad election to display his ballot paper after he shall have marked the same so as to make known to such person or to any other person the name of any candidate for whom he has marked his vote on such ballot paper.

• (4) Every person who acts in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months.

47 Election petitions in relation to Seanad elections.

47.—(1) The enactments relating to the presentation and trial of election petitions in relation to elections of members of Dáil Eireann shall apply to Seanad elections with the following modifications, that is to say:—

• (a) the court trying an election petition in relation to a Seanad election shall not have power to declare the whole election to be void but may declare the election of any one or more of the candidates returned as elected at the election to be void or to be valid as justice may require;

• (b) where the said court so declares the election of a candidate to be void, the court shall declare that such one as justice may require of the candidates not returned as elected was elected;

• (c) the said court shall have power to make such amendments as may be necessary to give effect to its decisions in the certificate of the Seanad returning officer of the result of the election;

• (d) it shall not be obligatory on the said court to cause a recount to be made of the votes given for, or to investigate the voting or the counting of the votes in respect of, the candidates on a panel in relation to which the said court is satisfied that the voting in respect of the candidates on such panel is not in issue on such petition;

• (e) references (including references by adaptation) to Dáil Eireann shall be construed as references to Seanad Eireann, and references (including references by adaptation) to the Chairman or the Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Eireann shall be construed as references to the Cathaoirleach of Seanad Eireann.

• (2) No person who has voted at a Seanad election shall in any legal proceedings to question the election or return of any candidate at such election be required to state for whom he has voted.

48 Non-compliance with rules.

48.—No election of a candidate at a Seanad election shall be declared void by reason only of a non-compliance with the rules contained in any Schedule to this Act, or any mistake in the use of the forms prescribed under this Act, if it appears to the tribunal having cognisance of the question that the election was conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the body of this Act, and that such non-compliance or mistake did not affect the result of the election.

49 Postal services.

49.—All postal services (including all registration services) wholly within Ireland in relation to the issue and return of ballot papers at a Seanad election shall be performed by the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs without prepayment of the charges therefor, and all such charges shall be deemed to be part of the Seanad returning officer's expenses and shall be defrayed accordingly.

PART V. Miscellaneous.

50 Resignation of membership of Seanad Eireann.

50.—(1) A member of Seanad Eireann elected under this Act may voluntarily resign his membership of Seanad Eireann by notice in writing to the Chairman of Seanad Eireann who shall announce such resignation to Seanad Eireann at the next meeting thereof.

• (2) The resignation under this section of a member of Seanad Eireann shall take effect immediately upon the announcement thereof by the Chairman of Seanad Eireann in pursuance of this section.

51 Election as university member and as panel member.

51.—Whenever at a general election of members of Seanad Eireann a person is elected as a member of Seanad Eireann by a university (in this section referred to as a university member) and is also elected as a member of Seanad Eireann under this Act (in this section referred to as a panel member), the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—

• (a) such person shall, by writing under his hand delivered to the Clerk of Seanad Eireann before taking his seat in either capacity, declare whether he will sit in Seanad Eireann as a university member or as a panel member;

• (b) if such person does not deliver within one month after the first meeting of Seanad Eireann after such general election, such declaration as is mentioned in the next preceding paragraph of this section to the Clerk of Seanad Eireann in accordance with that paragraph, such person shall be deemed to have declared at the expiration of such month that he will sit in Seanad Eireann as a university member;

• (c) as soon as such person has declared or is deemed to have declared in which of the said capacities he will sit in Seanad Eireann, he shall be deemed to have resigned his seat in Seanad Eireann as a member thereof in the other of those capacities.

FIRST SCHEDULE. Conduct of Election.

SECOND SCHEDULE. The Counting of the Votes. Rejection of invalid ballot papers.