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38 1923

THE PREVENTION OF ELECTORAL ABUSES ACT, 1923

PART VIII.

Miscellaneous.

Inquiry by Attorney-General into alleged corrupt or illegal practices.

44. —Where information is given to the Attorney-General of Saorstát Eireann that any corrupt or illegal practices have prevailed in reference to any election it shall be the duty of the Attorney-General to make such inquiries and institute such prosecutions as the circumstances of the case appear to him to require.

Removal of incapacity on proof that it was procured by perjury.

45. —Where a person has become subject to any incapacity by reason of a conviction or of a report of an election court, and any witness who gave evidence against such incapacitated person upon the proceeding for such conviction or report is convicted of perjury in respect of that evidence, the incapacitated person may apply to the High Court, and that court if satisfied that the conviction or report so far as respects such person was based upon perjury, may order that such incapacity shall thenceforth cease, and the same shall cease accordingly.

Penalty for injuring ballot boxes or ballot papers.

46. —(1) Any person who commits any of the following offences that is to say:—

(a) without lawful authority takes a ballot box out of the custody of a returning officer or of a presiding officer or of any person to whose care or custody a returning officer shall lawfully have entrusted such ballot box; or

(b) maliciously destroys, mutilates or injures any ballot box; or

(c) maliciously destroys, tears or defaces any ballot paper;

(d) counterfeits the official mark;

(e) removes, destroys or damages any instrument for stamping the official mark on ballot papers or makes or has in his possession any imitation or counterfeit of any such instrument;

shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment with or without hard labour for any period not exceeding one year or on conviction on indictment to imprisonment with or without hard labour for any period not exceeding two years or penal servitude for any period not less than three years nor more than five years.

(2) Every person who—

(a) forges or fraudulently defaces or fraudulently destroys any nomination paper, or delivers to the returning officer any nomination paper, knowing the same to be forged; or

(b) forges or counterfeits any ballot paper or the official mark on any ballot paper; or

(c) without due authority supplies any ballot paper to any person; or

(d) fraudulently puts into any ballot box any paper other than the ballot paper which he is authorised by law to put in; or

(e) fraudulently takes out of the polling station any ballot paper; or

(f) without due authority opens, or otherwise interferes with any ballot box;

shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment with or without hard labour for any period not exceeding one year or on conviction on indictment to imprisonment with or without hard labour for any period not exceeding two years or penal servitude for any period not less than three years nor more than five years.

Penalties for certain offences relating to registration.

47. —(1) Every person who makes a false declaration for the purpose of a claim under Rules 9 and 10 of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act, 1923 (No. 12 of 1923), to be registered as a Dáil or Seanad or Local Government elector, whether such claim is made by such person on his own behalf or on behalf of some other person, and whether such falsity consists of an untrue statement or the omission of a material fact, shall be liable on summary conviction at the prosecution of the registration officer to a fine of not less than £5 or not more than £20.

(2) Every person who wilfully destroys, mutilates, effaces or removes any notice, list, copy of register or other document made available for inspection, posted up or otherwise published by a registration officer pursuant to the rules contained in the First Schedule of the Electoral Act, 1923 (No. 12 of 1923), shall be liable on summary conviction on the prosecution of the registration officer or police constable to a fine of not less than ten shillings nor more than forty shillings.

Candidate at Seanad election becoming disqualified during election.

48. —(1) If any candidate at a Seanad election becomes disqualified for being elected to Seanad Eireann at any time after the panel of candidates for that election has been formed and before the counting by the Seanad Returning Officer of the votes cast at that election has commenced, all the preferences recorded for that candidate shall be disregarded in the counting of the votes cast at that election.

(2) If any candidate at a Seanad election becomes disqualified for being elected to Seanad Eireann at any time after the commencement and before the completion of the counting by the Seanad Returning Officer of the votes cast at that election, due regard shall be had to the preferences recorded for that candidate, and if on such counting that candidate is found to be elected, one more candidate shall be returned as elected than there are vacancies to be filled.

Conditions on which employer may give leave of absence to employees to record their votes.

49. —Nothing in this Act shall make it illegal for an employer to permit electors in his employment to absent themselves from such employment for a reasonable time for the purpose of voting at an election, without having any deduction from their salaries or wages on account of such absence, if such permission is, so far as practicable without injury to the business of the employer, given equally to all persons alike who are at the time in his employment, and if such permission is not given with a view of inducing any person to record his vote for any particular candidate at such election, and is not refused to any person for the purpose of preventing such person from recording his vote for any particular candidate at such election.

Dáil candidates entitled to certain free postage.

50. —(1) Each candidate at a Dáil election shall, subject to regulations to be from time to time made by the Postmaster-General, be entitled to send, free of any charge for postage, to each person on the register of electors for the constituency, one postal communication containing matter relating to the election only and not exceeding two ounces in weight.

(2) A candidate shall not be entitled to exercise the right of free postage conferred by this section before he is duly nominated, unless he has given such security as may be required by the Postmaster-General for the payment of the postage on all communications sent by him under this section in case he does not eventually become nominated.

(3) For the purposes of this section, candidates who are, under the First Schedule to this Act, to be deemed to be joint candidates, shall be treated as a single candidate.

Election petitions in relation to Seanad elections.

51. —The enactments relating to the presentation and trial of election petitions in relation to Dáil elections shall apply to Seanad elections, with the following modifications, that is to say:—

(a) an election petition may relate to one constituency or to two or more constituencies;

(b) an election petition in respect of a Seanad election may be presented by any one candidate or by a group of two or more candidates.

Limitation of time for prosecution of offence.

52. —(1) A proceeding against a person in respect of the offence of a corrupt or illegal practice or any other offence under this Act shall be commenced within one year after the offence was committed, or if it was committed in reference to an election with respect to which proceedings are held before an election court, shall be commenced within one year after the offence was committed, or within three months after the report of such court is made, whichever period last expires, but so that it be commenced within two years after the offence was committed, and the time so limited by this section shall, in the case of any proceeding under the Summary Jurisdiction Acts for any such offence, whether before an election court or otherwise, be substituted for any limitation of time contained in the last-mentioned Acts.

(2) For the purposes of this section the issue of a summons, warrant, writ, or other process shall be deemed to be a commencement of a proceeding, where the service or execution of the same on or against the alleged offender is prevented by the absconding or concealment or act of the alleged offender, but save as aforesaid the service or execution of the same on or against the alleged offender, and not the issue thereof, shall be deemed to be the commencement of the proceeding.

Persons charged with corrupt practice may be found guilty of illegal practice.

53. —Any person charged with a corrupt practice may, if the circumstances warrant such finding, be found guilty of an illegal practice (which offence shall for that purpose be an indictable offence) and any person charged with an illegal practice may be found guilty of that offence, notwithstanding that the act constituting the offence amounted to a corrupt practice, and a person charged with illegal payment, employment, or hiring, may be found guilty of that offence, notwithstanding that the act constituting the offence amounted to a corrupt or illegal practice.

Prosecution on summary conviction, and appeal to quarter sessions.

54. —(1) All offences under this Act punishable on summary conviction may be prosecuted in manner provided by the Summary Jurisdiction Acts.

(2) A person aggrieved by a conviction by a court of summary jurisdiction for an offence under this Act may appeal to general or quarter sessions against such conviction.

Publication of notices.

55. —Any public notice required to be given by a returning officer under this Act shall be given in the manner in which he is directed by the Electoral Act, 1923 (No. 12 of 1923), to give a public notice under that Act.

Definitions.

56. —In this Act and the Schedules thereto unless the context otherwise requires—

The expression “Dáil Election” means an election of a member or members to serve in Dáil Eireann and includes a bye-election as well as a general election;

The expression “Dáil Elector” means a person entitled to vote at a Dáil election;

The expression “Seanad Election” means an election of Senators to serve in Seanad Eireann;

The expression “Seanad Elector” means a person entitled to vote at a Seanad election;

The word “Election” when used without qualification includes Dáil election, Seanad election and Referendum;

The expression “Election Court” means any court or tribunal constituted under any Act of the Oireachtas and having jurisdiction to inquire into, hear, determine or report upon allegations, charges, disputes or differences in respect of elections generally or any particular election or class of elections;

The expression “Summary Jurisdiction Acts” means the several Acts for the time being in force in Saorstát Eireann relating to courts of summary jurisdiction;

The expression “committee room” does not include any house or room occupied by a candidate at an election as a dwelling by reason only of the candidate there transacting business with his agents in relation to such election; nor shall any room or building be deemed to be a committee room for the purposes of this Act by reason only of the candidate or any agent of the candidate addressing therein electors, committeemen, or others;

The expression “personal expenses” as used with respect to the expenditure of any candidate in relation to any election includes the reasonable travelling expenses of such candidate and the reasonable expenses of his living at hotels or elsewhere for the purposes of and in relation to such election;

The expression “Local Authority” includes a county, county or other borough, urban district, or rural district council, a board of guardians, the town commissioners of any town, and any other public body which may be established by any County Scheme to perform any of the functions of any of the above-named bodies, and any committee or joint committee of or wholly or partly appointed by any such authority or body;

The expression “prescribed” means prescribed by order made by the Minister for Local Government;

The expression “Local Government election” means an election of a member or members of a Local Authority;

The expression “police constable” includes any member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police and any member of the Civic Guard;

The word “payment” includes any pecuniary or other reward;

The expressions “pecuniary reward” and “money” include any office, place or employment, and any valuable security or other equivalent for money, and any valuable consideration;

Every expression relating to registration, electors, or elections used in this Act which is also used in the Electoral Act, 1923 (No. 12 of 1923), shall, if not otherwise defined in this Act, have the same meaning as such expression has in the Electoral Act, 1923 .

Repeals.

57. —(1) The enactments mentioned in the Second Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of that Schedule, except so far (if at all) as they apply to elections other than Parliamentary elections.

(2) All references in any existing statute, order, regulation or rule to any of the Acts wholly or partially repealed by this Act shall be deemed to be references to this Act, but in the case of Acts partially repealed by this Act only so far as such references relate to the portion of such Act so repealed.

Short Title.

58. —This Act may be cited as “The Prevention of Electoral Abuses Act, 1923.”