Elementary questions re voting on Friday

Fogmatic

Please excuse my ignorance, but I'm a British blow-in of only 27 years' standing, during which I've only voted 3 times. (That's if you count the first one, when a local election candidate with a minibus en route to the polling station was knocking door-to-door picking up voters for him, and we just went along with it!).

The previous times were in a bit of a rush and I don't have much memory of the procedure. I presume we mark local election candidates with no. 1, 2 etc in order of preference, but up to how many is there space for? And can we mark just, say, our 1 or 2 favourites, and leave the rest blank?h

And is the same for the MEP candidates? (For instance I've heard mention of 'The Fourth Vote', but am as confused about what that means as about everything else!).

I think I'm decided re local election candidate(s) (if only by a not very scientific process of elimination). I've only received a leaflet from one, but found the full list of 13 online. Conversely, I've received leaflets from 9 MEP candidates, but haven't managed to find out if that's the full complement. Can anyone point me to that list?

Thanks!

Duffryman

Hi there.

I'm at the complete opposite end of the country from you (Wexford), and just picked up on your post since it showed on the 'recent posts' board, but our PRSTV system works the same down here as it does in Donegal.

So yes, just vote 1, 2, 3, etc., in order of preference. You can stop anywhere you like - e.g. just give somebody a number 1 vote and then don't give any more at all, or else go all the way through the list from 1 to whatever number of candidates there are - both are equally valid votes. Just don't write anything else on the ballot paper, other than the numbers.

As regards the European elections, this is as good a guide as any:
https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2019/0429/1046344-eu-elections-2019-midlands-north-west-constituency/

And just to clarify - yes, the voting procedure is exactly the same for the Euro election as the local one - just start with a 1, and then go as far you like.

KBurke85

You can if you wish vote 1-13 for all candidates on the paper in whatever order you choose.

If you only want to vote for 1 then give that person the number one and leave the rest blank. You can vote for as many or as few of the candidates as you wish.

Fogmatic

Thank you both for the clarification, and the link.

I expect it's all as plain as daylight to any Irish person, and I know I could ask at the polling station, but knowing in advance will save me some time, and enable a more considered choice (and since it occurred to me, there hasn't been anyone handy to ask around here).

The voting procedure is the same as I remember from the UK, but I still haven't finished stumbling over differences between UK and Irish law etc! (There's still no guide to them in plain English that I can find).

muffler

Fogmatic wrote: »

The voting procedure is the same as I remember from the UK, but I still haven't finished stumbling over differences between UK and Irish law etc! (There's still no guide to them in plain English that I can find).

Have a quick read at this and this

Fogmatic

Thanks Muffler (I must have been remembering an Irish ballot paper after all!).

cosanostra

Only give a preference to someone you want elected a lot of people think they have to fill the whole thing out, what you are basically saying is if my number 1 is eliminated or elected my next choice is and so on

Fogmatic

cosanostra wrote: »

Only give a preference to someone you want elected a lot of people think they have to fill the whole thing out, what you are basically saying is if my number 1 is eliminated or elected my next choice is and so on

Yes - I've decided on the only 3 locals I feel positive about, in order of preference. (I certainly wouldn't relish the task of also having to put the other 10 into the reverse order of eliminating them!). I don't believe in voting for someone just because they're popular enough to stop someone I dislike from winning, either (to my mind that's a waste of a vote).

It was the opposite with the EU ones (shortlist of about 6 to cut down to 4).

What difference it'll make to anything is another matter, but if nobody asks nobody gets!

Pique

There's some people who say to completely fill the ballot paper as it shows how little you think of them in comparison to the others.

I disagree with this as multiple counts might mean that the final count in which you at last chose the person you like least could be elected due in part to your vote.

Democracy huh? The worst form of government.....apart from all the others.

Still better than FPTP though. ('First past the post')

muffler

Just for a bit of light entertainment and I suppose to explain the way part of the PR system of voting works and how it can irritate folks (me) at times.

I worked as presiding officer in a good few elections in the past and during one general election I had a gentleman who came in to vote and duly asked me to mark his ballot paper for him which is all above board and covered by statutory regulations. Whenever this situation would arise the person would normally tell you who they want to vote for but this man didnt have a clue. In fact he didnt even know who was standing for election.

There's a certain protocol that has to be adhered to and I was obliged to inform him of the list of the candidates together and the parties they represented and then ask him to choose which candidate he wished to give his first preference to. The only wee problem for me was the fact that there were 15 candidates so all those names and parties had to be read out to him.

When he chose his number 1 preference I had to inform him that he had the right to vote for another candidate by way of a second preference. So he says to me "who's on the list again" and i had to read the remaining 14 names etc out to him again. Then I was duty bound to inform him that he could select another candidate as a third preference to which he says "thats great, who's on the list again" and once more I had to read out the 13 remaining candidates.

That continued until he had all 15 voted and I was feckin exhausted

NIMAN

To be fair Muffler, a lot of the staff at polling stations usually get paid for sitting around chatting all day.

muffler

NIMAN wrote: »

To be fair Muffler, a lot of the staff at polling stations usually get paid for sitting around chatting all day.

I couldnt agree more but you cant blame the individuals for that. It all depends on which polling booth they are assigned to, how many on the register and most importantly the number of people on said register who choose to vote. I dont think any of us would want to see the government following the leads of the likes of An Post in closing down these places simply because of numbers.

My pet hate however is the the calibre of a lot of / most of the people employed at both the polling booths and count centres. Civil servants, teachers etc who are either currently working with damn good salaries or are retired with damn good pensions but thats a discussion for another day

buckfasterer

muffler wrote: »

I couldnt agree more but you cant blame the individuals for that. It all depends on which polling booth they are assigned to, how many on the register and most importantly the number of people on said register who choose to vote. I dont think any of us would want to see the government following the leads of the likes of An Post in closing down these places simply because of numbers.

My pet hate however is the the calibre of a lot of / most of the people employed at both the polling booths and count centres. Civil servants, teachers etc who are either currently working with damn good salaries or are retired with damn good pensions but thats a discussion for another day

I always wondered, how do you get those jobs?

donegal_man

buckfasterer wrote: »

I always wondered, how do you get those jobs?

Apply to the office of the local Returning Officer, usually the County Registrar. If you get an appointment you'll usually get offered it again the next time. My uncle (retired army sergeant) did it for probably 15 years.