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23 1992

ELECTORAL ACT, 1992

PART IV

Polling Districts and Polling Places

Interpretation ( Part IV ).

27. —In this Part “local authority” means the council of a county or the corporation of a county borough.

Polling districts and polling places.

28. —(1) Each local authority shall, as soon as may be after the commencement of this Part, and thereafter at least once in every ten years, following consultation with the returning officer for Dáil elections in respect of the county or county borough and in accordance with regulations made by the Minister, make a scheme dividing the county or county borough into polling districts for the purposes of Dáil elections, European elections and local elections and appointing a polling place for each polling district.

(2) A scheme under this section made by the local authority shall come into operation—

(a) if, but only if, it is confirmed by the Minister under the next subsection, and

(b) on the day specified in that behalf by the Minister.

(3) As soon as may be after they have made a scheme under this section, the local authority shall submit the scheme to the Minister for confirmation and the Minister shall—

(a) confirm the scheme with or without modification, or

(b) instruct that it be resubmitted to him in a modified form for confirmation, or

(c) refuse to confirm it.

(4) A scheme under this section shall continue in operation until the next such scheme in respect of the county or county borough comes into operation and shall then expire.

(5) A polling place appointed by a scheme under this section shall be an area and may be within or outside the county, county borough, constituency or local electoral area in which the polling district is situate, but shall be such as to give the electors allocated to it reasonable facilities for voting.

(6) Subject to subsection (7), the making of a scheme under this section shall be, in the case of the council of a county, a reserved function for the purposes of the County Management Acts, 1940 to 1991, and, in the case of the corporation of a county borough, a reserved function for the purposes of the Acts relating to the management of the county borough.

(7) The Minister may require a local authority to make a scheme under this section within such period (not being less than one month) as the Minister may direct and if the local authority refuse or fail to make such a scheme within the period directed by the Minister, the Minister may himself make a scheme in respect of such county or county borough.

(8) Until the first scheme under this section comes into operation in relation to a county or county borough, the polling districts and polling places existing in relation to the county or county borough immediately before the commencement of this section shall continue. After the coming into operation of the first scheme, any reference to a polling district or polling place in any Act, order or regulation shall, where appropriate, be construed in relation to such county or county borough as a reference to a polling district or polling place under a scheme in force under this section.

(9) Regulations made under section 22 of the Electoral Act, 1963 and in force immediately before the commencement of this Act shall, notwithstanding the repeal of the said section 22, remain in force until regulations are made under subsection (1) and shall be deemed to be regulations made under this section.

(10) An election shall not be questioned on the grounds of any non-compliance with the provisions contained in this section or any informality in regard to polling districts, places or stations.

Temporary arrangements with respect to certain polling districts.

29. —(1) Where, following a revision of constituencies a polling district existing immediately prior to such revision is not wholly situate within a new Dáil constituency, the appropriate officer, after consultation with the returning officer for such Dáil constituency shall, with respect to the part of the polling district situate in the constituency—

(a) join it or parts of it with any adjoining polling district or districts, or

(b) constitute it as a polling district and appoint a polling place for it.

(2) An arrangement made pursuant to subsection (1) shall be subject to confirmation by the Minister (who may confirm the arrangement with or without modification) and shall have effect until (and only until) the first scheme under section 28 in relation to the county or county borough in which the polling district is situate comes into operation after the making of the arrangement and shall not have effect in relation to any bye-election occurring before the dissolution of the Dáil which next occurs after the said revision of constituencies.

(3) In this section “the appropriate officer” means—

(a) in relation to a polling district situate in a county borough, the manager for the purposes of the Acts relating to the management of the county borough (including a person duly appointed either as deputy for such manager or to act in the place of such manager during his absence or incapacity or during a vacancy in his office),

(b) in relation to any other polling district, the secretary of the council of the county in which the polling district is situate (including a person duly appointed either as deputy for such secretary or to act in the place of such secretary during his absence or incapacity or during a vacancy in his office), or a person assigned to perform the duties of county secretary under this section.