Electoral (Amendment) Act, 2001
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Amendment of Local Elections Regulations, 1995. |
54.—The Local Elections Regulations, 1995 ( S.I. No. 297 of 1995 ), are amended— | |
(a) in Article 14(5) by— | ||
(i) the substitution of “section 25(7)(d)” for “section 25(4)(c)”, | ||
(ii) the insertion of “and a copy of the political party's emblem as registered in the Register of Political Parties” after “relevant political party”, | ||
(iii) the insertion of “the name of the political party only” after “ballot papers and”; | ||
(b) in Article 51 by— | ||
(i) the insertion of “subject to any modifications thereof provided under paragraph (aa) of sub-article (2)” after “Schedule” in sub-article (1); | ||
(ii) the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (a) of sub-article (2): | ||
“(aa) a ballot paper may include a photograph of each candidate and the registered emblem of the candidate's political party and the form of the ballot paper as specified in the Fourth Schedule may be adjusted accordingly in accordance with directions by the Minister,”; | ||
(iii) the insertion of “and the modifications thereof which may be provided for under paragraph (aa)” after “Schedule” in paragraph (e) of sub-article (2); and | ||
(iv) the insertion of the following sub-article after sub-article (2): | ||
“(3) A notice containing a copy of the ballot paper in large print shall be displayed by the presiding officer in the polling station.”; | ||
(c) in Article 55 by the insertion of “and, where appropriate, other information concerning the poll” after “article 73” in sub-article (1); | ||
(d) in Article 60 by the insertion of “or who are unable to read or write to such an extent” after “physically incapacitated” in paragraph (f); | ||
(e) in Article 61 by— | ||
(i) the insertion of “(1)” before “Where, an elector”, | ||
and | ||
(ii) the insertion of the following sub-article after sub-article (1): | ||
“(2) (a) Where a local government elector is employed by a returning officer for any purpose in connection with a local election and is registered to vote in a local electoral area, other than one in which the employment occurs, the elector shall, on application being made by him or her in that behalf, be entitled to have his or her name entered in a supplement to the postal voters list which the registration authority is empowered to prepare and publish in accordance with section 15A of the Electoral Act, 1992 . An application under this sub-article shall be made on a form directed by the Minister, and the returning officer who is employing the person shall certify on the form that the person will be employed by him or her on polling day in connection with the election and will be unable to vote in person in the local electoral area at the polling station at which the local government elector would otherwise be entitled to vote. | ||
(b) Section 15A(2)(d) of the Electoral Act, 1992 , shall apply to an application for entry in a supplement to the postal voters list under paragraph (a) as if references in that provision to paragraph (a) or (b) of section 14 were references to this sub-article. | ||
(c) Subsection (4) of section 15A of the Electoral Act, 1992 , shall not apply to an application under this sub-article.”; | ||
(f) in Article 65 by the insertion of “or he or she is unable to read or write to such an extent” after “physically incapacitated” in sub-article (3); | ||
(g) in Article 73 by— | ||
(i) the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (c) (including the words in brackets) of sub-article (2): | ||
“(c) Have you reached the age of eighteen years?”; | ||
and | ||
(ii) the substitution of “have attained the age of eighteen years” for “had attained the age of eighteen years on or before ...... (date of coming into force of the register)” in sub-article (3); | ||
(h) in Article 76 by the insertion of the following sub-article after sub-article (1): | ||
“(1A) For the purposes of sub-article (1), the manner in which a ballot box, being a box containing not more than 50 ballot papers, shall be opened shall be such that, although the box is opened in the presence of the agents of the candidates, the preferences on the individual ballot papers cannot be read by those agents or other persons present at the count.”; | ||
(i) in Article 83 by— | ||
(i) the substitution of “shall not” for “need not necessarily” in sub-article (8); and | ||
(ii) the substitution of the following sub-article for sub-article (11)— | ||
“(11) Subject to sub-articles (8) and (9), where two or more candidates have each an equal surplus arising from different counts, a surplus which arises at the end of any count shall be transferred before a surplus which arises at a subsequent count.”; | ||
(j) in Article 86 by the insertion of the following sub-article after sub-article (1)— | ||
“(1A) When the number of continuing candidates exceeds by one the number of vacancies remaining unfilled and the total of the votes credited to the lowest continuing candidate together with the surplus or surpluses not transferred is less than the number of votes credited to the next highest continuing candidate, the continuing candidates, with the exception of the lowest such candidate, shall thereupon be deemed to be elected.”; | ||
(k) by the substitution of the following Article for Article 88— | ||
“88 (1) The order in which candidates credited with a number of votes equal to or greater than the quota shall be deemed to be elected shall be the order of the count at which they were deemed to be elected. | ||
(2) Where more than one candidate is deemed to be elected at the same count, such candidates shall be deemed to be elected in the order of magnitude of their surpluses. Where such a candidate is credited with a number of votes equal to the quota he shall, for the purposes of this article, be regarded as having had the smallest surplus at that count. | ||
(3) Where two or more candidates are deemed to be elected at the same count with either equal surpluses or with no surpluses, the candidates shall be deemed to be elected in the order of magnitude of their original votes, beginning with the largest. Where the numbers of such original votes are equal, regard shall be had to the total number of votes credited to such candidates at the first count at which they had an unequal number of votes and the surplus of the candidate credited with the greatest number of votes at that count shall be deemed to be the largest. Where the numbers of votes credited to such candidates were equal at all counts, the candidates shall, in cases where lots were drawn to determine the order in which equal surpluses were to be dealt with, be deemed to have been elected in the order so determined. In all other cases the returning officer shall determine by lot the order in which such candidates shall be deemed to have been elected. | ||
(4) Where a single candidate is deemed to be elected under article 86 such candidate shall be deemed to have been elected last of all the candidates deemed to have been elected at that counting of votes. | ||
(5) Where more than one candidate is deemed to be elected under article 86 they shall be deemed to be elected in the order of magnitude of the numbers of votes credited to them, beginning with the largest, and where any such numbers are equal, the question shall be determined as between such candidates as if those numbers were surpluses.”; | ||
and | ||
(l) in article 108 by the substitution of “50 metres” for “100 metres” in sub-article (2). |