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19 1963

ELECTORAL ACT, 1963

PART V.

Referenda.

Interpretation and construction (Part V and Fourth Schedule).

63. —(1) In this Part of this Act “the Principal Act” means the Referendum Act, 1942 .

(2) The Referendum Acts, 1942 to 1960, and this Part of and the Fourth Schedule to this Act shall be construed together as one Act.

Polling cards.

64. —(1) At a referendum, the local returning officer for a constituency shall send to every elector whose name is on the register of Dáil electors for the constituency and is not on the postal voters list a card (in this section referred to as a polling card) in the prescribed form informing him of his number (including polling district letter) on the register of Dáil electors and of the place at which he will be entitled to vote.

(2) A polling card shall be addressed to the elector at the address in respect of which he is registered in the register of Dáil electors and shall be sent in sufficient time to be delivered in the ordinary course of post at that address not later than the third day before the polling day.

(3) A polling card shall be dispatched by post and shall be transmitted free of charge by the earliest practicable post.

(4) Expenses incurred by a local returning officer in complying with this section shall be expenses incurred by him for the purposes of the referendum within the meaning of section 12 of the Principal Act.

(5) No referendum shall be invalidated by reason of any failure to send, non-delivery of, or error or misstatement in, a polling card.

(6) No action or other proceeding shall lie against a local returning officer in respect of any error or misstatement in a polling card.

Advance polling on islands.

65. —(1) This section applies where, at a referendum, a local returning officer is of opinion that, in the case of a polling station situate on an island, it is probable that, owing to stress of weather or transport difficulties, either—

(a) the poll could not be taken on the polling day appointed by the Minister, or

(b) if the poll were taken on that day, the ballot boxes could not reach the place for the opening of the ballot boxes at or before the hour of 9 a.m. on the day next after the polling day.

(2) Where this section applies, the local returning officer shall give public notice in the polling district stating that he will take the poll at the polling station on the island on a specified day, being a day earlier than the polling day appointed by the Minister and later than the sixth day before the said polling day, and the following provisions shall, notwithstanding anything contained in the Principal Act, have effect:

(a) the local returning officer may take the poll at the polling station on the island on the day specified in the notice or, where he is of opinion that, owing to stress of weather, the poll cannot be taken on that day, on the first day after that day on which in his opinion transport between the island and the mainland is reasonably safe,

(b) where owing to transport difficulties the poll cannot begin at the hour fixed by the Minister for the commencement of the poll, it shall begin as soon as possible after that hour,

(c) where, after the polling has continued for not less than four hours, the presiding officer is of opinion that, if the poll were further continued, the ballot boxes could not reach the place for the opening of the ballot boxes at or before the hour of 9 a.m. on the day next after the polling day appointed by the Minister, he may then close the poll.

(3) No alteration shall be made in the form or contents of the notice of poll under Rule 3 of the First Schedule to the Principal Act by reason of an alteration made under this section of the day and hours of a poll.

Voting by persons in employment of local returning officers.

66. —Where—

(a) a person is entitled to vote at the poll at a referendum,

(b) he is employed by the local returning officer for the constituency in which he is entitled to vote, for any purpose in connection with the poll in the constituency, and

(c) the circumstances of his employment are, in the opinion of the returning officer, such as to prevent him from voting at the polling station at which he would otherwise be entitled to vote,

that officer may authorise him in writing to vote at a specified other polling station in that constituency, and the polling station so specified shall, for the purpose of Rule 8 of the First Schedule to the Principal Act be deemed to be the polling station allotted to him.

Amendment of sections 8(1), 10(1) and 11 of Principal Act.

67. —(1) Section 11 of the Principal Act is hereby amended as follows:

(i) the following paragraph shall be inserted after paragraph (a):

“(aa) the poll shall continue for such period, not being less than twelve hours, between the hours of 8.30 a.m. and 10.30 p.m. as may be appointed in that behalf under this Act;”

(ii) the following paragraph shall be substituted for paragraph (d):

“(d) the person who would be the returning officer at a Dáil election in any such constituency shall be the returning officer in that constituency for the purposes of the poll, but where that person is prevented by illness or other reasonable cause from performing all or any of his duties as such returning officer or where a vacancy occurs in the office of returning officer, the Minister shall appoint a person to act as such returning officer for the performance of those duties during the period of the prevention or vacancy, as the case may be, and any reference in this Act to a local returning officer shall be construed as including both a reference to a person who is by virtue of this paragraph the returning officer in a constituency for the purposes of the poll and a reference to a person appointed as aforesaid by the Minister;”

(2) Subsection (1) of section 8 and subsection (1) of section 10 of the Principal Act are each hereby amended by the insertion of “and the period during which” before “the polling at”.

Presiding officers and poll clerks.

68. —The following section is hereby substituted for section 18 of the Principal Act:

“18. (1) The local returning officer shall appoint a presiding officer to preside at each polling station and also, if he thinks fit, a clerk or clerks to assist each presiding officer.

(2) The local returning officer shall not appoint as presiding officer or poll clerk any person if he is himself aware or it is shown to his satisfaction that the person has been actively associated in furthering any particular result at the referendum.

(3) The local returning officer shall, on request, permit any member of Dáil Éireann or Seanad Éireann, or any personation agent, to inspect the list of persons to whom he has offered or proposes to offer appointments as presiding officers or poll clerks.

(4) A presiding officer shall keep order at his station, regulate the number of electors to be admitted at a time and shall exclude all other persons except the clerks, the personation agents (if any) appointed for his polling station, companions of electors whose sight is so impaired or who are otherwise so physically incapacitated that they are unable to vote without assistance while such companions are assisting such electors, and members of the Garda Síochána on duty.

(5) The presiding officer may do, by a clerk appointed to assist him, any act which he is required or authorised to do by this Act, except ordering the arrest, exclusion or ejection from the polling station of any person.”

Voting by postal voters.

69. —(1) Notwithstanding the repeal by this Act of section 15 of the Electoral Act, 1960 , the following subsections shall continue to stand substituted for subsections (2) and (3) of section 20 of the Principal Act:

“(2) Every local returning officer shall, as soon as practicable after the date of the order of the Minister appointing the polling day at a referendum, send to every person who is on the postal voters list for his constituency a ballot paper and a form of receipt (which shall be in the prescribed form) for such ballot paper.

(3) If such ballot paper duly marked by the said person and accompanied by the said receipt duly signed by him is received by the returning officer before the close of the poll, it shall be counted by him and treated for all purposes in the same manner as a ballot paper placed in the ballot box in the ordinary way.”

(2) Notwithstanding the said repeal, “receipts” shall continue to stand substituted for “declarations of identity” in paragraph (c) of Rule 31 of the First Schedule to the Principal Act.

Right to vote.

70. —(1) Subject to the subsequent provisions of this section, every person whose name is on the register of Dáil electors for the time being in force for a constituency, and no other person, shall be entitled to vote in that constituency at the poll at a referendum.

(2) For the purposes of this sections—

(a) a person's name shall be taken to be on a register of Dáil electors if the register includes a name which in the opinion of the local returning officer or presiding officer was intended to be the person's name,

(b) the local returning officer or presiding officer may and, if so required by a personation agent, shall put to any person at the time of his applying for a ballot paper, but not afterwards, the following questions, or any one or two of them:

(i) Are you the same person as the person whose name appears as A B on the register of electors now in force for the constituency of __________?

(ii) Have you already voted at this referendum?

(iii) Had you reached the age of twenty-one years on __________(date of coming into force of the register)?

and unless such of those questions as are put to the person are answered, in the case of the first and third of those questions, in the affirmative and, in the case of the second of them, in the negative, the person shall not be permitted to vote,

(c) the local returning officer or presiding officer may and, if required by a personation agent, shall administer to any person at the time of his applying for a ballot paper, but not afterwards, an oath or (in the case of any person who objects to taking an oath on the ground that he has no religious belief or that the taking of an oath is contrary to his religious belief) an affirmation in the following form:—

“I swear by Almighty God (or—do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm—as the case may be) that I am the same person as the person whose name appears as A B on the register of electors now in force for the constituency of __________and that I have not already voted at this referendum, and that I had attained the age of twenty-one years on __________(date of coming into force of the register)”

and if such person refuses to take the oath or make the affirmation he shall not be permitted to vote.

(3) Save as is provided by this section and by Rule 18 of the First Schedule to the Principal Act, no question, oath, affirmation or objection shall be put or permitted at the time of the poll at a referendum as to the right of any person to vote, and no objection thereto shall be made or received by any local returning officer or presiding officer.

(4) (a) A person—

(i) who is registered in the register of Dáil electors for the time being in force for a constituency but is not entitled to be so registered, or

(ii) who is not registered in that register,

shall not vote in that constituency at the poll at a referendum.

(b) A person who contravenes paragraph (a) of this subsection shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or, at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

(5) Nothing in this section shall be construed as entitling any person to vote who is not entitled to do so, or relieve him from any penalties to which he may be liable for voting.

Forms of ballot papers.

71. —(1) At a constitutional referendum—

(a) every ballot paper shall be in the form set out in Part I of the Fourth Schedule to this Act, and

(b) the proposal which is the subject of the referendum shall be stated on the ballot paper by citing by its short title the Bill containing such proposal passed or deemed to have been passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas.

(2) At an ordinary referendum every ballot paper shall be in the appropriate form set out in Part II of the Fourth Schedule to this Act, and—

(a) in the case of a ballot paper in respect of one referendum, it shall contain a reference to the Bill or the portion of the Bill containing the proposal which is the subject of the referendum, and

(b) in the case of a ballot paper in respect of two or more referenda having the same polling day, it shall contain, in respect of each referendum, a reference to the Bill or the portion of the Bill containing the proposal which is the subject of the referendum.

(3) In applying, in the case of a constitutional referendum, paragraph (1) of Rule 3 of the First Schedule to the Principal Act, the following subparagraph shall be substituted for subparagraph (b) of that paragraph;

“(b) the short title of the Bill containing the proposal which is the subject of such referendum, and”.

(4) Subject to the next subsection, where the same day is the polling day at two or more ordinary referenda, separate ballot papers shall not be issued, but every ballot paper shall be so framed that the voter is able to record a separate vote in respect of each referendum.

(5) Where the same day is the polling day at two or more ordinary referenda and the Minister is of opinion that it is for any reason impracticable or inexpedient to comply with the foregoing subsection—

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

(b) where the Minister directs as aforesaid and the direction does not apply to all of the referenda—

(i) if there is only one of the referenda to which the direction does not apply, separate ballot papers shall be issued for it,

(ii) if there are two or more of the referenda to which the direction does not apply, the foregoing subsection shall apply to them.

Amendment of section 29 of Principal Act.

72. —(1) The application, by virtue of subsection (1) of section 29 of the Principal Act, of the following portions of the Prevention of Electoral Abuses Act, 1923 , is hereby terminated: paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of section 1, section 4, subsections (3), (4) and (5) of section 6, sections 9 and 10, all words in section 15 from “and shall” to the end of the section, section 45 and the definition of “committee room” in section 56.

(2) In any application, by virtue of subsection (1) of section 29 of the Principal Act, of subsection (1) or (2) of section 6 or section 15 of the Prevention of Electoral Abuses Act, 1923 , the said subsection (1) or (2) or section 15 shall have effect as amended by section 90 of this Act.

(3) (a) In paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 29 of the Principal Act the reference to the sections of the Prevention of Electoral Abuses Act, 1923 , shall be construed as including a reference to section 13A (inserted by section 90 of this Act) of the latter Act and, in any application by virtue of that paragraph of section 15 of the latter Act, the reference in the said section 15 to the foregoing sections of the latter Act shall be construed as including a reference to the said section 13A.

(b) In paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of section 29 of the Principal Act the reference to the sections of the Prevention of Electoral Abuses Act, 1923 , shall be construed as including a reference to section 55A (inserted by section 90 of this Act) of the latter Act.

(c) In subsection (2) of section 29 of the Principal Act the expression “the said portions of the Prevention of Electoral Abuses Act, 1923 ” shall be construed as including a reference to the said sections 13A and 55A.

Amendment of Rule 1 of First Schedule to Principal Act.

73. —The following Rule is hereby substituted for Rule 1 of the First Schedule to the Principal Act:

“1. (1) It shall be lawful for any local returning officer with the consent of the Minister to appoint a deputy local returning officer for the discharge of all or any particular part of the duties of such local returning officer.

(2) Where at a referendum the same person is local returning officer for two or more constituencies, he shall—

(a) in case those constituencies are two and not more, appoint, in respect of one of them, a deputy local returning officer to open the ballot boxes and count the votes,

(b) in any other case, appoint, in respect of each of the constituencies (except one), a deputy local returning officer to open the ballot boxes and count the votes.

(3) A person shall not be appointed under paragraph (2) of this Rule unless the appointment has been approved of by the Minister.

(4) Subject to the provisions of the foregoing paragraphs, the local returning officer for a constituency shall conduct a referendum in such constituency unless he is prevented from so doing by illness or other reasonable cause sufficient in the opinion of the Minister.

(5) References in the subsequent Rules of this Schedule to the local returning officer shall, where appropriate, include references to deputy local returning officers.”

Amendment of Principal Act as to official mark on ballot papers.

74. —“with an official mark which shall be embossed or perforated so as to be visible on both sides of the paper” is hereby substituted for “on both sides with an official mark, either stamped or perforated” in subsection (3) of section 14 of the Principal Act and for “on both sides with the official mark, either stamped or perforated” in Rule 16 of the First Schedule thereto.

Voting by blind, incapacitated, and illiterate persons.

75. —(1) The following Rule is hereby substituted for Rule 18 of the First Schedule to the Principal Act:

“18. (1) (a) If any voter satisfies the presiding officer that his sight is so impaired or that he is otherwise so physically incapacitated or that he is so illiterate that he is unable to vote without assistance, this Rule shall apply.

(b) For the purposes of subparagraph (a) of this paragraph, the presiding officer may, and, if requested by a personation agent, shall, administer to the voter an oath (or, in the case of a person who objects to taking an oath on the ground that he has no religious belief or that the taking of an oath is contrary to his religious belief, an affirmation) in the following form:

‘I swear by Almighty God (or—do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm—as the case may be) that my sight is so impaired (or—that I am so physically incapacitated or—that I am so illiterate—as the case may be) that I am unable to vote without assistance’

and if the voter refuses to take the oath or make the affirmation, this Rule shall not apply.

(2) (a) Where this Rule applies in the case of a voter who satisfies the presiding officer that his sight is so impaired or that he is otherwise so physically incapacitated that he is unable to vote without assistance, the voter may request that his ballot paper shall be marked for him by a companion and, subject to subparagraph (b) of this paragraph, the companion may mark the ballot paper for the voter and shall forthwith place it so marked in the ballot box.

(b) The presiding officer may, and, if requested by a personation agent, shall, put to the companion before delivery of the ballot paper, the following questions or any one or two of them:

(i) Have you attained the age of sixteen years?

(ii) Have you marked as a companion more than one ballot paper at this referendum?

(iii) Are you a personation agent at this referendum?

and unless the first question is answered in the affirmative and the other question or questions, as the case may be, is or are answered in the negative the companion shall not mark the ballot paper.

(3) Where this Rule applies and—

(a) the voter is illiterate, or

(b) the voter does not request that his ballot paper shall be marked for him by a companion, or

(c) the voter having so requested, the marking of his ballot paper by the companion would be in contravention of subparagraph (b) of paragraph (2) of this Rule,

the presiding officer shall, in the presence of the personation agents (if any) and no other person, cause the vote of the voter to be marked on a ballot paper in the manner directed by the voter and shall forthwith place the ballot paper so marked in the ballot box.

(4) A request made by a voter within four hours before the hour fixed for the closing of the poll to have his ballot paper marked for him under this Rule otherwise than by a companion may be refused by the presiding officer if, in his opinion, having regard to the number of voters then coming in to vote or likely to come in to vote before the close of the poll, his acceding to such request would interfere with the proper discharge of his duties or would unduly obstruct the voting of other voters.

(5) Where a ballot paper is to be marked pursuant to paragraph (3) of this Rule, the presiding officer may assist the voter by reading out in full from the ballot paper the proposal stated therein, but he shall not act on any written instruction.”

(2) (a) Where, pursuant to paragraph (2) of Rule 18 of the First Schedule to the Principal Act, a person has marked as a companion two ballot papers, he shall not, at the same referendum, mark as a companion any other ballot paper.

(b) A person shall not, pursuant to paragraph (2) of Rule 18 of the First Schedule to the Principal Act, mark as a companion a ballot paper at a referendum if he is a personation agent at that referendum.

(c) A person who contravenes paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of this subsection shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or, at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

Alleged personation.

76. —The following Rule is hereby substituted for Rule 19 of the First Schedule to the Principal Act:

“19. If a person representing himself to be a particular person named on the register of electors, applies for a ballot paper after another person has been given a ballot paper as such person, the applicant shall, upon duly answering the questions permitted by this Act to be asked of voters at the time of polling, be entitled to mark a ballot paper in the same manner as any other voter, and to put the ballot paper when marked into the ballot box, but the presiding officer shall make out a statement showing the total number of ballot papers issued pursuant to this Rule and the names and numbers on the register of electors of the persons to whom they were issued.”

Duties of presiding officer at close of poll.

77. —The following Rule is hereby substituted for Rule 21 of the First Schedule to the Principal Act:

“21. The presiding officer shall, at the time fixed for the close of the poll, take steps to ensure that no further voters are admitted to the polling station and, subject to the proviso that a voter on the premises at that time shall be entitled to receive a ballot paper and to vote, the presiding officer at each polling station, as soon as practicable after the close of the poll, shall, in the presence of the personation agents, seal each ballot box, unopened but with the key attached, so that no further papers can be inserted therein and make up into separate packets sealed with his seal—

(a) the unused and spoilt ballot papers placed together,

(b) the marked copies of the register of electors, and

(c) the counterfoils of the ballot papers,

and shall deliver all such ballot boxes and packets to the local returning officer.”

Amendment of Rules 23A and 24 of First Schedule to Principal Act.

78. —The following Rules are hereby substituted for Rules 23A and 24 of the First Schedule to the Principal Act:

“23A. (1) The local returning officer for a constituency—

(a) shall appoint the place at which he will open the ballot boxes,

(b) shall open the ballot boxes at the place so appointed,

(c) shall give to every person, nominated under Rule 29 of this Schedule and of whose nomination he receives notice, notice in writing of the place so appointed,

(d) shall give such persons all such reasonable facilities for overseeing the proceedings at the count (including, in particular, facilities for satisfying themselves that the ballot papers are correctly sorted), and all such information with respect thereto, as he can give them consistently with the orderly conduct of the proceedings and the performance of his functions,

(e) shall provide suitable accommodation and all equipment necessary for counting the votes.

(2) The place appointed under subparagraph (a) of the foregoing paragraph shall be within the constituency, but—

(a) in case the constituency consists of a part which is part of a county borough and a part which is outside that borough, it may be—

(i) within the other part of that borough, or

(ii) with the consent of the Minister, outside that borough and outside, but convenient to, the constituency, and

(b) in any other case, it may be, with the consent of the Minister, outside, but convenient to, the constituency.

24. At the hour of 9 a.m. on the day next after the close of the poll in a constituency and at the place appointed by him under Rule 23A of this Schedule, the local returning officer for that constituency shall begin to open the ballot boxes used at the poll in that constituency, take out the ballot papers therein, count and record the numbers thereof, and then mix them together.”

Amendment of Rules 30 and 32 of First Schedule to Principal Act. 1946, No. 30.

79. —Notwithstanding the repeal by this Act of paragraphs (c), (d) and (e) of section 3 of the Referendum (Amendment) Act, 1946

(i) “eleven” shall continue to stand substituted for “seven” in paragraph (1) of Rule 30 of the First Schedule to the Principal Act,

(ii) “President and the” shall continue to stand inserted before “Taoiseach” in paragraph (3) and in paragraph (4) of Rule 32 of that Schedule.