A serious error on the Limerick City ballot paper could see issues arise in the race for the fourth seat, or possibly see the whole election in the constituency rendered void.
Electoral law dictates that ballot papers must show candidates in alphabetical order, however, in Limerick, this was not the case.
Members of the Limerick City electoral district were given ballot papers yesterday which placed Sinn Féin’s Maurice Quinlivan and Dean Quinn (The Irish People party) incorrectly ahead of Fianna Fáil's Willie O’Dea, Elisa O’Donovan (Social Democrats) and Kieran O'Donnell (Fine Gael).
The news was first reported by the Limerick Post who are seeking clarity on whether or not the votes will be counted at 9am in Limerick.
Candidates are within their rights to demand a re-vote if they believe the outcome of the vote has been affected by this error.
Section 88 of the Electoral Act 1992 *does* stipulate that candidates must be listed in the ballot in alphabetical order by surname
— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) November 29, 2024
Outgoing Fianna Fáil TD Willie O’Dea first heard of the mistake when contacted for comment.
The Limerick politician told the Limerick Post he was “stunned”.
“A number of people said to me my name was quite far down the paper, but it was a busy day and I didn’t see the mistake,” he said.
“It’s absolutely unacceptable and I will be demanding to know on Monday who was it drew up the ballot layout and how this happened.”
Outgoing Sinn Féin TD Maurice Quinlivan told reporter David Raleigh that said “the whole election has been a fiasco”.
“The fact ‘they’ can’t get basic things right, like the alphabetical order of the candidates is an absolute scandal, and it is simply not good enough – this is a ridiculous situation to be in,” he said.
Social Democrats candidate Elisa O'Donovan told the Irish Examiner the ballot paper issue is a “big error”.
The candidate said she noticed the mistake immediately when she voted.
"It is what it is now, I have ran a good campaign I know people who were going to vote for me will find me on the ballot paper," she said.
Outgoing TDs O’Dea and Quinlivan noted that very few polling cards had reached Limerick in time for the election.
“Half of the northside were left without any cards and people contacted me to say they went to the polling booths with ID to discover they were not on the register at all,” Deputy O’Dea said.
“It’s everyone’s democratic right to vote and it’s a disgrace that this could happen - I will want to know who is responsible.”
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“A lot of people don’t understand they can vote without a polling card, and I’ve tried my best to alert people today, but that’s not my job, they should have been delivered much earlier than they were, and it’s been an absolute scandal,” Deputy Quinlivan said.
It is expected that candidates will receive some clarity on the ballot paper mistake before the count is set to begin at 9am, but the issue has left the Limerick City constituency upturned on what will happen at the Limerick Racecourse today.
Newstalk reporters will be at count centres around Ireland bringing you all the results as they come in.
We will also be running election specials throughout today and tomorrow, and you can follow all the action on our live blog and on our social channels.
Main image: RDS Count Centre, Dublin. 09/02/2020 Photo: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie
