Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act, 1937
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Election of electors by councils. |
37.—(1) Not later than, in the case of the first Seanad election, the 31st day of January, 1938, or, in the case of every subsequent Seanad election, one month after the dissolution of Dáil Eireann which occasions such Seanad election, every council of a county or a county borough shall elect in accordance with this section and regulations made thereunder seven persons (in this section referred to as electors) to the electorate for such Seanad election and shall, if such election is contested, hold a meeting of such council at which such election shall be held. | |
(2) The following provisions shall apply and have effect in relation to the election of electors in pursuance of this section, that is to say:— | ||
(a) every candidate for election as an elector shall be nominated in writing by two members of the council (in this section referred to as the electing council) by which the election is being made; | ||
(b) no person shall be elegible for election as an elector unless he is a member of the electing council; | ||
(c) if such election is not contested, the secretary of the electing council shall, immediately after the close of the nominations, send to the Seanad returning officer the names, addresses, and descriptions of the electors who were duly so nominated; | ||
(d) if such election is contested, the electors shall be elected by the members of such council present at the said meeting (or such of them as think proper to vote) voting by secret ballot on the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote; | ||
(e) as soon as practicable after the said voting is closed, the secretary of such council shall send to the Seanad returning officer all the ballot papers by which votes were given at such election and the Seanad returning officer shall count such votes in his office or other convenient place and ascertain therefrom the result of the election | ||
(f) as soon as the Seanad returning officer has so ascertained the results of all the elections held in pursuance of this section, he shall prepare, sign, and publish in the Iris Oifigiúil a list of the persons elected at such elections, showing separately the persons elected by each electing council, and such statement as so published shall be a conclusive and final declaration of the result of every such election; | ||
(g) the expenses of every election held in pursuance of this section (other than the expenses of things required by this sub-section to be done by the Seanad returning officer) shall be borne by the electing council and shall be raised, in the case of the council of a county, by means of the poor rate as a county-at-large charge and, in the case of the county boroughs of Dublin and Limerick, by means of the municipal rate and, in the case of the county boroughs of Cork and Waterford, by means of the poor rate or such other rate as the Minister shall direct. | ||
(3) The following provisions shall apply and have effect in relation to every council of a county or a county borough which is for the time being dissolved under section 72 of the Local Government Act, 1925 (No. 5 of 1925), that is to say:— | ||
(a) the electors who, if such council were not so dissolved, would be required, by the foregoing provisions of this section to be elected by such council shall be elected from amongst themselves by the surviving persons (in this Part of this Act referred to as the former members of such council) who were members of such council immediately before it was so dissolved and have not, since such dissolution, suffered an adjudication in bankruptcy or a conviction of a crime or offence which would have terminated their membership of such council if it had not been so dissolved or such of such persons as think fit to take part in such election; | ||
(b) every candidate for election at such election shall be nominated in writing by two of the former members of such council; | ||
(c) if such election is contested, a meeting of the former members of such council shall be summoned and the election shall be made at such meeting by the former members of such council present at such meeting (or such of them as think proper to vote) voting by secret ballot on the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote; | ||
(d) the provisions of the next preceding sub-section, so far as they are not inconsistent with the foregoing provisions of this section, shall apply with such modifications as shall be necessary or shall be prescribed by regulations made under this section. | ||
(4) Neither the failure of a council or the former members of a dissolved council to hold an election in pursuance of this section nor the election by a council or the former members of a dissolved council of less than seven electors shall prejudice or affect the validity of the elections held in pursuance of this section by other councils or the former members of other councils or the validity and conclusiveness of the electoral roll or, where less than seven electors are so elected, the validity of the election of so many electors as are so elected. | ||
(5) The Minister shall make such regulations and may give such instructions as he shall think proper for carrying this section into execution (including prescribing a limited time for the doing of any act or thing), and it shall be the duty of every council of a county or a county borough and the officers of every such council (including the officers of the person performing the duties of a dissolved council) to comply with all such regulations and instructions. |