Referendum Act , 1942

PART I. Preliminary and General.

1 Short title.

1.—This Act may be cited as the Referendum Act, 1942.

2 Definitions.

2.—In this Act—

the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Local Government and Public Health;

the expression “constitutional referendum” means a referendum on a proposal for the amendment of the Constitution;

the expression “ordinary referendum” means a referendum on a proposal other than a proposal for the amendment of the Constitution;

the word “referendum”, when used without qualification, includes both a constitutional referendum and an ordinary referendum;

the expression “general election” means a general election of members of Dáil Eireann consequent on a dissolution of Dáil Eireann;

the expression “Dáil elector” means a person entitled to vote at a Dáil election;

the expression “Dáil election” means an election of a member or members of Dáil Eireann;

the word “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this Act.

3 Regulations.

3.—The Minister may make regulations prescribing any matter or thing which is referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed.

4 Expenses.

4.—The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

5 Repeals.

5.—The enactments mentioned in the Third Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of that Schedule.

6 The referendum returning officer.

6.—(1) As soon as may be after the passing of this Act and from time to time thereafter as occasion requires, the Minister shall appoint a fit and proper person to be the referendum returning officer for the purposes of this Act.

(2) It shall be the duty of the referendum returning officer to conduct the referendum for which he is appointed, to ascertain and declare the result of the voting thereon in accordance with this Act, and to do such other things in respect of such referendum as he is required by this Act to do.

(3) There shall be charged on and paid out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof to the referendum returning officer such sums as the Minister for Finance shall sanction for his services and expenses in respect of every referendum conducted by him.

7 Statement by registration officers of the number of Dáil electors.

7.—(1) As soon as may be after the passing of this Act, every registration officer shall send to the referendum returning officer a statement in the prescribed form of the number of Dáil electors registered in the register of electors then in force in each constituency or portion of a constituency in the registration area of such registration officer.

(2) Whenever after the passing of this Act a register of electors comes into force, every registration officer shall forthwith send to the referendum returning officer a statement in the prescribed form of the number of Dáil electors registered in the register of electors in each constituency or part of a constituency in the registration area of such registration officer.

(3) Whenever the number of Dáil electors which is the subject of a statement sent by a registration officer to the referendum returning officer in pursuance of this section becomes altered by the decision of appeals, correction of errors, or any other cause, such registration officer shall forthwith communicate to the referendum returning officer the fact of such alteration and the particulars thereof.

PART II. The Poll at a Referendum.

8 The polling day at a constitutional referendum.

8.—(1) Whenever a bill containing a proposal for the amendment of the Constitution shall have been passed or be deemed to have been passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas it shall be lawful for the Minister to appoint by order the day (in this Act also referred to as the polling day) upon which the polling at the referendum on such proposal shall take place.

(2) The polling day appointed by an order made by the Minister under this section shall not be less than thirty days and not more than ninety days after the date of such order.

(3) Every order made by the Minister under this section shall be published in the Iris Oifigiúil as soon as may be after it is made.

9 Power to appoint the same polling day for a general election and a constitutional referendum.

9.—(1) Whenever a Bill containing a proposal for the amendment of the Constitution shall have been passed, or deemed to have been passed, by both Houses of the Oireachtas, and Dáil Eireann is dissolved before the Minister has made under the next preceding section an order appointing the polling day at the referendum on such proposal, the Minister, if he so thinks fit, may (notwithstanding anything contained in the said next preceding section) appoint by his order under that section the polling day at the general election consequent on such dissolution of Dáil Eireann to be the polling day at such referendum.

(2) Whenever a Bill containing a proposal for the amendment of the Constitution shall have been passed, or deemed to have been passed, by both Houses of the Oireachtas, and Dáil Eireann is dissolved after the Minister has made his order (in this sub-section referred to as the original order) under the next preceding section in relation to the referendum on such proposal and before the polling day appointed by that order, the Minister, if he so thinks fit, may by order amend the original order by substituting the day which is the polling day at the general election consequent on such dissolution of Dáil Eireann for the day named in the original order as the polling day at such referendum.

10 The polling day at an ordinary referendum.

10.—(1) Whenever—

(a) the President informs the Taoiseach in accordance with Article 27 of the Constitution that he has decided that a bill to which that Article applies contains a proposal of such national importance that the will of the people thereon ought to be ascertained, and

(b) the Government determines that a referendum for the purpose of ascertaining the will of the people on such proposal shall be taken,

the Minister shall, within one week after such determination by the Government, appoint by order the day (in this Act also referred to as the polling day) upon which the polling at such referendum shall take place.

(2) The polling day appointed by an order made by the Minister under this section shall not be less than thirty days and not more than ninety days after the date of such order.

(3) Whenever the Government determines than an ordinary referendum shall be taken, the Government shall cause notice of such determination to be published in the Iris Oifigiúil, and thereupon such publication shall be conclusive evidence of such determination.

(4) Every order made by the Minister under this section shall be published in the Iris Oifigiúil as soon as may be after it is made.

11 Method of taking the poll at a referendum.

11.—The following provisions shall have effect in relation to the taking of the poll at a referendum, that is to say:—

(a) save as is otherwise provided by this Act, the poll shall be taken on one day only and that day shall be the same throughout the State and shall be the day appointed by the order of the Minister under this Act to be the polling day at such referendum;

(b) the poll shall commence at nine o'clock in the forenoon and shall be kept open until nine o'clock in the afternoon and no longer;

(c) for the purpose of taking the poll, the State shall be deemed to be divided into the same constituencies as those into which it is for the time being divided for the purpose of the election of members of Dáil Eireann, and the poll shall be taken separately in each such constituency;

(d) the person who would be the returning officer at a Dáil election in any such constituency shall be the returning officer (in this Act referred to as the local returning officer) in such constituency for the purpose of the poll and, where such person is a county registrar, sub-section (7) of section 40 of the Court Officers Act, 1926 (No. 27 of 1926), shall apply and have effect;

(e) each voter at the poll shall record his vote in the constituency in which he would be entitled to vote at a general election of members of Dáil Eireann

(f) each such constituency shall be deemed to be divided for the purpose of the poll into the same polling districts as those into which it is for the time being divided for the purpose of a Dáil election, and the places which are for the time being appointed as polling places in each such polling district for the purpose of a Dáil election shall be the polling places for the purpose of taking the poll;

(g) it shall be the duty of every local returning officer to conduct the taking of the poll in his constituency in accordance with this Act, and for that purpose to provide such polling stations, ballot boxes, ballot papers, stamping instruments, copies of the register of electors and other things, appoint and pay such officers and do such other acts and things as may be necessary for effectually taking the poll in his constituency in accordance with this Act;

(h) every local returning officer shall, in relation to the taking of the poll in his constituency, comply with the provisions of this Act, the rules contained in the First Schedule to this Act, and the orders made and instructions given by the Minister under this Act.

12 Local returning officers' expenses.

12.—(1) Every local returning officer at the taking of the poll at a referendum shall be entitled to his reasonable charges, not exceeding the sums specified in the scale of maximum charges framed under this section, in respect of services and expenses of the several kinds mentioned in the said scale which have been properly rendered or incurred by him for the purposes or in connection with the taking of such poll.

(2) The amount of the charges mentioned in the foregoing sub-section of this section of a local returning officer shall be paid by the Minister for Finance out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof on an account to be submitted to him by such returning officer in accordance with regulations to be made by the said Minister under this section, but the said Minister may, if he thinks fit, before payment of the charges of any local returning officer, apply to a judge of the Circuit Court having jurisdiction in the constituency of such returning officer for the taxation of such account and thereupon such judge shall cause such account to be taxed and the amount payable thereunder to be determined by the county registrar.

(3) The Minister for Finance may, if he so thinks fit, on the application of a local returning officer, make to such officer, on such terms as the said Minister shall think proper, an advance on account of the charges payable to such returning officer under this section.

(4) The taxation under this section of the account of a local returning officer shall, if the judge so directs on the application of such returning officer, include the taxation and determination of the amount of any claim made by any person against such returning officer in respect of any matter charged for in such account.

(5) The Minister for Finance shall prescribe for the purposes of this section a scale of maximum charges and may revise such scale as and when he thinks fit, and may also make regulations as to the time when and the manner and form in which accounts are to be rendered to him by local returning officers for the purposes of the payment of such charges.

13 Restrictions on persons entitled to vote at the poll.

13.—(1) No person shall be entitled to vote in any constituency at the poll at a referendum unless he is registered as a Dáil elector in the register of electors for the time being in force for such constituency.

(2) No person who has not attained the age of twenty-one years shall be entitled to vote at the poll at a referendum.

(3) No person shall be entitled to vote more than once (whether in the same constituency or in different constituencies) at the poll at a referendum, but subject to that limitation, every person who is registered as a Dáil elector in the register of electors for the time being in force for a constituency shall (save as is otherwise provided by this section) be entitled to demand and receive a ballot paper and to vote in such constituency at such poll.

(4) No person who is for the time being prohibited by law from voting at a Dáil election shall be entitled to receive a ballot paper or to vote at the poll at a referendum, and every person who votes at such poll while he is so prohibited shall be liable to the same penalties as those for which he would be liable if he voted at a Dáil election.

14 The ballot papers.

14.—(1) The votes at the poll at a referendum shall be given by ballot and the ballot of each voter shall consist of a paper (in this Act called a ballot paper).

(2) Every ballot paper shall have a number printed on the back thereof and shall have attached a counterfoil with the same number printed on the face thereof and shall be capable of being folded up.

(3) Every ballot paper shall, at the time of issue thereof, be marked on both sides with an official mark either stamped or perforated.

(4) The referendum returning officer shall be responsible for the printing and procuring of a sufficient quantity of ballot papers and it shall be his duty to supply to every local returning officer such number of ballot papers as such officer shall reasonably require.

15 Form of ballot papers.

15.—(1) Every ballot paper at a referendum shall be in whichever of the forms set out in the Second Schedule to this Act is applicable.

(2) Where the same day is the polling day at two or more referenda, then and in such case (save as is otherwise provided by the next following sub-section of this section) separate ballot papers shall not be issued for such referenda and, in lieu thereof, every ballot paper at such referenda shall be so framed that the voter shall be able to record thereby a separate vote in respect of each such referendum.

(3) Where the same day is the polling day at two or more referenda and the Minister is of opinion that it is for any reason impracticable or inexpedient to comply with the next preceding sub-section of this section in regard to those referenda, the following provisions shall apply and have effect, that is to say:—

(a) the Minister may direct that separate ballot papers shall be issued for one or more or all of such referenda;

(b) where the Minister gives such direction as is authorised by the foregoing paragraph of this sub-section, separate ballot papers shall, notwithstanding anything contained in the said next preceding sub-section, be issued in accordance with that direction;

(c) where the Minister gives such direction as aforesaid and such direction does not apply to all of such referenda, then and in such case, if there is only one of such referenda to which such direction does not apply, separate ballot papers shall be issued for that one of such referenda, and, if there are two or more of such referenda to which such direction does not apply, the said next preceding sub-section shall apply and have effect in relation to those two or more of such referenda.

(4) Every ballot paper in respect of one referendum shall contain a statement of the proposal which is the subject of such referendum, and every ballot paper in respect of two or more referenda having the same polling day shall contain, in respect of each such referendum, a statement of the proposal which is the subject of such referendum.

(5) At a constitutional referendum, the proposal which is the subject thereof shall be stated on the ballot paper in the same terms as nearly as may be as such proposal is stated in the bill containing such proposal passed or deemed to have been passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas.

(6) At an ordinary referendum, the proposal which is the subject thereof shall be stated on the ballot paper in the same terms as nearly as may be as such proposal is stated in the writing under the hand and seal of the President sent by him to the Taoiseach.

16 Method of marking a vote on a ballot paper.

16.—(1) Every voter at the poll at a referendum shall record his vote by marking his ballot paper in accordance with the instructions for marking which are printed on the ballot paper.

(2) Any ballot paper—

(a) which does not bear the official mark, or

(b) on which no vote is placed at all, or

(c) on which the vote is not so placed as to indicate that the voter approves or does not approve of the proposal which is the subject of such referendum, or

(d) on which votes are given both for and against such proposal, or

(e) on which anything by which the voter can be identified (except the number required by law to be printed on the back of the ballot paper) is written or marked,

shall be invalid and shall not be counted.

(3) Where a ballot paper is not invalid under any of the provisions of the next preceding sub-section of this section, such ballot paper shall not be invalid merely because it does not comply with the instructions for marking which are printed thereon, and in particular shall not be invalid because the mark “x” is not used in marking such paper, provided such paper is so marked as to indicate with reasonable certainty the will of the voter.

(4) Where a ballot paper relates to two or more referenda and a vote is properly recorded thereon in respect of one or more but not all of such referenda, such ballot paper, if not otherwise invalid, shall be valid for the purposes of the referendum or referenda in respect of which a vote is properly recorded thereon and invalid and not counted for the purposes of the referendum or referenda in respect of which a vote is not recorded thereon or is improperly recorded thereon.

17 Personation agents.

17.—(1) Any member of Dáil Eireann or of Seanad Eireann may appoint a person (in this Act referred to as a personation agent) to attend at a particular polling station at a referendum for the purpose of assisting in the detection of persons committing or attempting to commit the offence of personation.

(2) A member of Dáil Eireann or of Seanad Eireann may appoint under this section, in respect of any referendum, personation agents at as many polling stations as he thinks fit, but no one member of Dáil Eireann or of Seanad Eireann shall appoint more than one personation agent in respect of any one polling station.