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23 1992

ELECTORAL ACT, 1992

PART XIV

Voting by Special Voters

Interpretation ( Part XIV ).

78. —In this Part—

ballot paper envelope” has the meaning specified in section 81 (c);

covering envelope” has the meaning specified in section 81 (d);

special presiding officer” means a person appointed to be a special presiding officer pursuant to section 80 .

Voting by special voters.

79. —A Dáil elector whose name is, at the time of a Dáil election, entered in the special voters list for a constituency shall be entitled to vote in that constituency at the poll at the election in accordance with the provisions of section 82 and shall not be entitled to vote in any other manner.

Special presiding officers.

80. —(1) The returning officer shall, as circumstances may require, for the purposes of this Part appoint one, or more than one, person to be a special presiding officer to carry out the functions conferred on a special presiding officer by this Part.

(2) The provisions of this Act relating to the powers, rights and duties of a presiding officer appointed for a polling station at an election shall apply to a special presiding officer appointed under this section as if he were a presiding officer so appointed and as if the place where the special voter is casting his vote were a polling station at an election.

(3) The returning officer may perform all or any of the functions of a special presiding officer appointed under this section and the provisions of subsection (2) shall apply to the returning officer while he is so performing.

(4) The provisions of section 103 relating to the right of an elector to request that his ballot paper be marked for him by a companion shall not apply in relation to a special voter.

Ballot paper etc. for special voters.

81. —As soon as practicable after the adjournment of the Dáil election for the purpose of taking a poll the returning officer shall cause to be delivered pursuant to section 82 to every special voter entitled to vote at that election, the following—

(a) a ballot paper for the election;

(b) a form of declaration of identity in the form directed by the Minister;

(c) an envelope marked (and in this Part referred to as a) “ballot paper envelope”; and

(d) an envelope addressed to the returning officer (in this Part referred to as a “covering envelope”).

Method of voting by special voters.

82. —(1) At a Dáil election, a special presiding officer shall, in the presence of a member of the Garda Síochána, deliver to the special voter the form of declaration of identity referred to in section 81 .

(2) No person other than the special presiding officer and the member of the Garda Síochána shall be present when the special voter is voting pursuant to this section.

(3) The special voter shall complete the declaration of identity and shall sign it or, if he is unable to write, place his mark thereon and the said signature, or as the case may be mark, shall be witnessed by the special presiding officer.

(4) The special presiding officer shall, on being satisfied as to the identity of the special voter, mark a ballot paper with the official mark and deliver it to the special voter together with a ballot paper envelope.

(5) The special presiding officer shall, as soon as he has given the ballot paper and the ballot paper envelope to the special voter, place a mark against the name of the special voter concerned on a copy of the special voters list to denote that a ballot paper has been issued to such voter but without showing the number of the ballot paper so issued.

(6) The special voter shall thereupon record in secret his vote upon the ballot paper and, when he has so recorded his vote, shall fold the ballot paper so that his vote is concealed and place the ballot paper, so folded, in the ballot paper envelope and seal the envelope and hand the ballot paper envelope to the special presiding officer.

(7) The special presiding officer shall, as soon as he has received the ballot paper envelope, place it together with the completed declaration of identity in a covering envelope which he shall thereupon seal and to which he shall affix a label in the form directed by the Minister signed by himself and the member of the Garda Síochána.

Duties of special presiding officer in relation to covering envelopes and other documents.

83. —(1) The special presiding officer shall, before the time fixed for the close of the poll at the Dáil election, deliver to the returning officer every covering envelope referred to in section 82 (7).

(2) On the completion of voting by special voters, each special presiding officer shall seal up, in separate packets—

(a) the unused ballot papers and any spoilt ballot papers, placed together;

(b) the counterfoils of the ballot papers;

(c) the marked copy of the special voters list;

(d) a ballot paper account in such form as may be directed by the Minister completed by him;

(e) the marking instrument, any unused stationery and any other documents or materials in his possession which relate to voting by special voters at the election;

and he shall deliver all such packets to the returning officer.

Duties of returning officer in relation to documents relating to special voters.

84. —(1) The returning officer shall deal with the packets delivered to him by a special presiding officer pursuant to section 83 in the same manner as he would deal, in accordance with the provisions of this Act, with other packets containing similar documents and materials relating to a Dáil election.

(2) The returning officer shall place the covering envelopes returned to him by a special presiding officer pursuant to section 83 , in the postal voters ballot box referred to in section 69 and the covering envelopes and the documents therein shall thereafter be treated as if they were envelopes and documents returned to the returning officer by postal voters and the provisions of sections 73 , 74 , 75 and 76 shall apply to such envelopes and documents.

(3) In the application of the provisions of this Act relating to postal voters to special voters—

(a) a reference to “receipt” shall, in relation to documents appropriate to special voters, be construed as a reference to “declaration of identity”, and

(b) a reference to “receipt duly signed” in relation to such documents, shall be construed as a reference to “declaration of identity duly signed and witnessed”, and

(c) if the covering envelope does not have the label referred to in section 82 attached thereto or if such label is not duly signed by the special presiding officer and the member of the Garda Síochána, the returning officer shall reject the covering envelope and deal with it as if it were a receipt which had not been duly signed.