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42 1947

SEANAD ELECTORAL (PANEL MEMBERS) ACT, 1947

PART VI

Miscellaneous.

Resignation of membership of Seanad Eireann.

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

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

Election as university member and as panel member.

81. —Where 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:

(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 the general election, such declaration as is mentioned in paragraph (a) of this section to the Clerk of Seanad Eireann in accordance with that paragraph, he shall be deemed to have declared at the expiration of that 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.

Preservation of the secrecy of the voting.

82. —(1) The Seanad returning officer and every officer and clerk concerned in the issue or the receipt of ballot papers or the counting of votes under this Act and every candidate or other person present at such issue, receipt, or counting shall maintain and aid in maintaining the secrecy of the voting at the 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 the 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 any ballot paper.

(2) A person shall not interfere with or attempt to interfere with the receipt, marking, or return of the ballot paper of any elector at an election under this Act.

(3) A person shall not directly or indirectly induce any elector at an election under this Act to display his ballot paper after he has marked it 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) A 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.

Non-compliance with rules.

83. —An election of a candidate at an election under this Act shall not 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 the non-compliance or mistake did not affect the result of the election.

Postal services.

84. —All postal services (including all registration services) wholly within the State in relation to the issue and return of ballot papers at an election under this Act 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.

Transitory provisions.

85. —(1) The following provisions shall, notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act, have effect in relation to any Seanad general election held consequent on dissolution of Dáil Éireann occurring during the period beginning on the passing of this Act and ending on the publication under section 15 of this Act of the register of nominating bodies:

(a) the register published in the Iris Oifigiúil under section 19 of the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act, 1937 (No. 43 of 1937), on the 25th day of March, 1947, shall be deemed to be the register of nominating bodies;

(b) that register shall, for the purposes of sections 21 and 22 of this Act, be deemed to have been published on the passing of this Act;

(c) the person who, immediately before the passing of this Act, stood appointed under section 5 of the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act, 1937 , shall be deemed to be the Seanad returning officer, but if that person is unable through illness, absence or other cause to fulfil his duties, such person as may be appointed in that behalf by the Minister shall be deemed to be the Seanad returning officer;

(d) the Clerk of Seanad Éireann shall not later than thirty days after the dissolution of Dáil Éireann send to the Seanad returning officer a statement of the names, addresses and descriptions of the members of Seanad Éireann who are entitled to be members of the electorate at the Seanad general election;

(e) the Clerk of Seanad Éireann shall be deemed to be an authorised person for the purpose of rule 8 of the rules contained in the First Schedule to this Act;

(f) the Seanad returning officer shall, in lieu of retaining the duplicate certificate referred to in rule 27 of the rules contained in the First Schedule to this Act, send such duplicate to the Clerk of Seanad Éireann.

(2) The following provisions shall, notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act, have effect in relation to any Seanad bye-election held consequent on a notice of a casual vacancy sent or deemed to be sent to the Minister during the period beginning on the passing of this Act and ending on the publication under section 15 of this Act of the register of nominating bodies:—

(a) the register published under section 19 of the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act, 1937 (No. 43 of 1937), on the 20th day of March, 1947, shall be deemed to be the register of nominating bodies;

(b) that register shall, for the purposes of sections 21 and 22 of this Act, be deemed to have been published on the passing of this Act;

(c) the person, who, immediately before the passing of this Act, stood appointed under section 5 of the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act, 1937 , shall be deemed to be the Seanad returning officer, but if that person is unable through illness, absence or other cause to fulfil his duties, such person as may be appointed in that behalf by the Minister shall be deemed to be the Seanad returning officer;

(d) if the election is to fill an Oireachtas sub-panel casual vacancy and it is adjourned for the purpose of taking a poll—

(i) the Seanad returning officer shall forthwith on the adjournment inform the Clerk of Seanad Eireann in writing of the adjournment, and send to him a copy of the list of candidates, and the said Clerk shall, not later than four days after being so informed, furnish to the Seanad returning officer a statement of the names, addresses, and descriptions of all the members of Seanad Eireann who are then entitled to sit and vote in that House,

(ii) the said statement and the statement furnished by the Clerk of Dáil Éireann pursuant to subsection (1) of section 69 of this Act shall together be deemed to be the electoral roll constituted under the said section 69 for the election;

(e) the Seanad returning officer shall, in lieu of retaining the duplicate certificate referred to in rule 23 of the rules contained in the Third Schedule to this Act, send such duplicate to the Clerk of Seanad Éireann.

(3) A notice sent under section 5 of the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) (Bye-Elections) Act, 1940 (No. 20 of 1940) during the six months ending on the passing of this Act shall be deemed to be a notice of a casual vacancy sent to the Minister under this Act on the passing thereof.

(4) Notwithstanding section 44 of this Act, a person shall not be a member of the electorate at a Seanad general election by reason only of the fact that he was a member of the council of the county of Dublin at any time before the passing of this Act.