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23 1992

ELECTORAL ACT, 1992

SECOND SCHEDULE

Registration of Electors

Sections 13 , 15 , 17 and 20 .

PART I

The Register of Electors

Specified dates and periods.

1. (1) The qualifying date for a register shall be the 1st day of September in the year preceding the year in which the register comes into force.

(2) Each register shall come into force on the fourteenth day after its publication.

(3) The 15th day of February in the year in which a register comes into force shall be the date by reference to which a person's age shall be taken for the purposes of sections 7 , 8 , 9 and 10 .

(4) The date on or by reference to which any act or thing is required by this Schedule to be performed or done shall be the date specified for that purpose in the Table to this paragraph.

TABLE

Specified Dates

Purpose

Relevant Section or Rule

Date

1. Qualifying date

Rule 1

1st September in the year preceding the year in which the register comes into force.

2. Specified period for giving public notice in relation to special voters

Rule 21

The period of 14 days ending on 1st September.

3. Last date for sending of statement to registration authority by civil servants serving abroad

Section 12

30th September.

4. Last date for receipt of application to be entered on special voters list

Rule 19

25th November.

5. Last date for sending by urban authorities of lists of electors to registration authority

Rule 5

1st October.

6. Publication of draft register

Rule 5

1st November.

7. Last date for making claims

Rule 7

25th November.

8. Publication of list of claims

Rule 7

30th November.

9. Completion of return by county registrar of endorsed list of claims

Rule 12

23rd December.

10. Publication of register

Rule 13

1st February.

11. Coming into force of register

Rule 1

Fourteenth day after publication of the register.

12. Period for ascertaining if any corrections in the register are necessary because of errors of a clerical or typographical nature or because of misnomers or inaccurate descriptions

Section 15 (3)

The period of 14 days commencing on the date of the publication of the register.

(5) Where the date on or by reference to which any act or thing is required by this Schedule to be performed or done falls on an excluded day that act or thing shall be done on or by reference to the next following day which is not an excluded day.

Form and contents of register.

2. (1) The register shall be in such form as may be directed by the Minister and shall, as respects each polling district, contain the names of all persons who are entitled to be registered as electors on the qualifying date for the register.

(2) The names in the register for a registration area shall be arranged under polling districts and—

(a) if the registration area is a county borough, shall be arranged in street order unless the registration authority consider that, having regard to the general character of any part of the area, arrangement in street order for that part is inappropriate,

(b) if the registration area is an administrative county, shall be arranged alphabetically in townland order unless the registration authority consider that, having regard to the general character of any part of the area, arrangement in street order or in any other order is possible and convenient.

Effect of register.

3. The parts of the register for the polling districts in a Dáil constituency, so far as they relate to presidential electors, shall be the register of presidential electors for that constituency and, so far as they relate to Dáil electors, shall be the register of Dáil electors for that constituency and the parts of the register for the polling districts in a European Parliament constituency, so far as they relate to European electors, shall be the register of European electors for that constituency and the parts of the register for the polling districts in a local electoral area, so far as they relate to local government electors, shall be the register of local government electors for that area.

Postal voters list.

4. The registration authority shall prepare a separate list in such form as may be directed by the Minister for the whole registration area or, where the area includes all or part of more than one constituency, for each such constituency or part of a constituency in the registration area, of persons entitled to vote as postal voters without, however, removing the names of those voters from the register.

Preparation of draft register.

5. (1) For the purpose of preparing the register, each registration authority shall make a house to house or other sufficient inquiry in their registration area, exclusive of boroughs and urban districts therein.

(2) The corporation of each borough which is not a county borough and the council of each urban district in a registration area shall make a house to house or other sufficient inquiry in the borough or urban district and, from the information so obtained, compile and furnish to the registration authority on or before the specified date in each year lists in the form of a draft register for the borough or urban district.

(3) The registration authority may for the purposes of their duties in relation to the preparation of a register require a person—

(a) to give any information in his possession which the registration authority may require;

(b) to produce a certificate of birth, or, if that is not practicable or convenient, to make a statutory declaration as to his age;

(c) to provide documentary evidence or to make a statutory declaration that he is a person entitled to be registered as a Dáil elector under section 8 (2);

(d) to produce a certificate of naturalisation or to make a statutory declaration that he is a citizen of Ireland;

(e) to make a statutory declaration that he is a national of a Member State of the European Communities other than Ireland,

and where a declaration is so required, any fees payable in connection therewith shall be paid by the authority requiring it.

(4) The registration authority shall, during office hours, allow any person to inspect and take a copy of any declaration furnished under paragraph (3).

(5) The registration authority may require the superintendent registrar of births and deaths to furnish lists or other information in connection with deaths of persons in the district of the superintendent registrar. Where the superintendent registrar is an individual, payment for such lists or information shall be made by the registration authority at a rate approved from time to time by the Minister and in any other case no payment shall be made.

(6) From the information obtained under this Rule the registration authority shall prepare and publish a draft register on or before the specified date in each year.

Persons to whom draft register is to be sent.

6. (1) The registration authority shall, as soon as may be after the publication of the draft register, send a copy of the draft register—

(a) for the registration area — to the Minister, the county registrar and each head postmaster in the area;

(b) for a European Parliament constituency — to each representative in the European Parliament for that constituency;

(c) for a Dáil constituency — to each member of the Dáil for that constituency and each member of the Seanad residing in that constituency;

(d) for a local electoral area — to each local authority member for that area.

(2) The registration authority shall send with each copy of the draft register sent in pursuance of the preceding paragraph to each person other than the Minister a supply of forms for the making of claims for corrections in the draft register.

(3) The registration authority shall supply to the county registrar such further number of copies of the draft register for a registration area as he shall require for the purposes of his duties as county registrar.

Claims for corrections in draft register.

7. (1) Any person may claim to have a correction made in a draft register, including in particular a claim to have the name of a person added to or deleted from the draft.

(2) A claim under this Rule shall be sent to the registration authority on or before the specified date.

(3) The registration authority and the county registrar shall, on the application of any person, supply forms on which claims may be made.

(4) The registration authority shall prepare and publish on or before the specified date a list of claims in such form as may be directed by the Minister.

(5) The registration authority shall, not later than the date specified for the publication of the list of claims, send copies of the said list to the county registrar together with the original claims.

(6) The registration authority or the county registrar, as may be appropriate, shall allow any person during office hours to inspect and take extracts from a claim or may supply copies of a claim.

Consideration of claims by the county registrar.

8. (1) The county registrar shall consider all claims of which notice has been given to him in accordance with Rule 7 and all objections to corrections referred to him under Rule 11.

(2) Before considering a claim for the deletion of a person's name from the draft register the county registrar shall, except where he is satisfied that the person is dead, give not less than five clear days notice to the claimant (if he is not the registration authority or a person whose duty it is to make the house to house or other inquiry on which the draft register is based) and to the person in respect of whom the claim is made of the time and place at which the claim will be considered by him.

(3) If the county registrar is satisfied that a claim, other than a claim for the deletion of a person's name from the draft register, should not be allowed without inquiry he shall give not less than five clear days notice to the claimant (if he is not the registration authority or a person whose duty it is to make the house to house or other inquiry on which the draft register is based) and to any other person appearing to him to be interested of the time and place at which the claim will be considered by him.

(4) The county registrar may require any officer of a registration authority or of a corporation of a borough which is not a county borough or a council of an urban district in the registration area and any person whose duty it is to make the house to house or other inquiry on which the draft register is based to attend at such times and at such places as he may consider necessary for the purpose of enabling him to decide any claim or other matter arising out of his consideration of the draft register.

(5) The county registrar may, on consideration of any claim or other matter, require that the evidence tendered by any person should be given on oath and may administer an oath for that purpose.

(6) On the consideration of any claim or other matter by the county registrar, any person interested may appear and be heard either in person or by any other person on his behalf.

Inquiries and claims by county registrar.

9. (1) The county registrar may require any person to give any information in his possession which the county registrar may require for the purposes of his duties under this Schedule.

(2) The county registrar, if it appears to him that the draft register should be corrected in any respect, may himself make a claim for the correction, and any such claim may be made notwithstanding the fact that the time for sending a claim under Rule 7 may have expired.

(3) Any such claim need not be published but otherwise shall be considered in the same manner and on the same conditions as a claim under Rule 7.

Correction of draft register.

10. The registration authority shall, not later than ten days before the date specified for the completion of the return by the county registrar of the endorsed list of claims, make any corrections by way of the removal of duplicate entries (subject to any expression of choice by the persons affected by those entries), the deletion of the names of persons who are dead, or the placing of marks or the correction of marks placed against the name of an elector, or otherwise as may be necessary in order to secure that—

(a) a person is not registered more than once as an elector, and

(b) the draft register is complete and accurate.

Objections to corrections.

11. Where the registration authority propose to make any correction in the draft register under Rule 10 otherwise than for the purpose of correcting an inaccuracy not involving a change of substance or deleting the name of a person who is dead, they shall give notice to any persons affected by the correction of their right of objection to the correction, and, if necessary, of being heard by the county registrar with respect thereto.

Return of corrected list of claims.

12. (1) Immediately on completing his decisions on claims and on any objections under Rule 11, relating to the part of the list of claims for a local electoral area or such smaller area as may be found convenient, the county registrar shall send to the registration authority a certified copy of that part of the list endorsed to show the effect of his decisions.

(2) The county registrar shall send all the parts of the list of claims making up the complete list of claims for the registration area, endorsed as aforesaid, to the registration authority not later than the specified date.

(3) The registration authority shall, on receiving part of the list of claims from the county registrar, forthwith make any corrections in the draft register necessary to give effect to his decisions and shall send notice of the decision on each claim to the claimant (other than the county registrar or a claimant who is a person whose duty it is to make the house to house or other inquiry on which the register is based) and to any other person appearing to them to be interested, together with an intimation of the right of appeal against the decision to the Circuit Court under section 21 .

Publication of register.

13. (1) The draft register corrected in accordance with Rules 10 and 12 shall form the register.

(2) The registration authority shall publish the register on the specified date in each year.

(3) Where the registration authority for any reason fail to publish on the specified date the register for their area or any part thereof, the registration authority shall publish the register as soon as possible after the specified date.

(4) In addition to publishing the register in the manner specified in Rule 25 the registration authority shall publish the register by sending a copy of the register—

(a) for the registration area — to the Minister, the county registrar and each head postmaster in the area;

(b) for a European Parliament constituency — to each representative in the European Parliament for such constituency;

(c) for a Dáil constituency — to each member of the Dáil for that constituency and to each member of the Seanad residing in the constituency;

(d) for a local electoral area — to each local authority member for that area.

Inspection and fees for copies of registers.

14. (1) The registration authority and the county registrar shall allow any person during office hours to inspect for purposes connected with the registration of electors, a copy of the register or of the draft register.

(2) The fee for a copy of the register or draft register or any part thereof shall be fifty pence plus the sum of ten pence for each one hundred by which the number of persons in the register or draft register or part thereof exceeds one hundred.

(3) The registration authority shall, on payment of the said fee, supply to any person a copy of the register or draft register or the appropriate part thereof.

(4) No fee shall be charged by the registration authority for supplying on request—

(a) one copy of the register for each Dáil constituency or part of a Dáil constituency or for a local electoral area, as the case may be, in their registration area, to—

(i) the local agent of each duly nominated candidate at a presidential election,

(ii) each candidate duly nominated for the constituency at a Dáil election, and

(iii) each candidate duly nominated for the local electoral area at a local election,

(b) one copy of the register for each European Parliament constituency or part thereof contained in the registration area to each candidate duly nominated at a European election for such constituency,

(c) such number of copies of the register for each Dáil constituency or part of a Dáil constituency or for a local electoral area, as the case may be, as the returning officer at a Dáil election or a local election or the local returning officer at a presidential election or a referendum requires for the purpose of his duties as returning officer or local returning officer, and

(d) such number of copies of the register for the registration area or any part thereof as the returning officer or local returning officer at a European election requires for the purpose of his duties at such election.

(5) The registration authority shall supply, free of charge, on request, a copy, in standard computer medium and format, of any computer data files used in the production of the register which the returning officer at a Dáil election or a local election, the local returning officer at a presidential election or a referendum or the returning officer or local returning officer at a European election may require for the purposes of his duties at such election or referendum.

PART II

Supplement to the Register of Electors

Consideration by registration authority of applications to be entered in the supplement to the register.

15. (1) On receipt of an application to be entered in the supplement to the register of electors under section 15 , the registration authority shall make such inquiries as they think fit for the purpose of considering such application, and the provisions of paragraphs (3), (4) and (5) of Rule 5 shall apply in relation to the consideration of such application.

(2) The registration authority shall, as soon as practicable, consider and rule on the application and shall notify the applicant of the ruling and, where the application is refused, of his right to appeal against the ruling to the county registrar.

Appeal against ruling of registration authority.

16. In case the application for entry in the supplement to the register is refused, an appeal, in writing, may be made to the county registrar against the ruling of the registration authority.

Ruling on appeal by county registrar.

17. (1) The county registrar shall consider and rule on an appeal made to him under Rule 16 and shall notify the registration authority of the ruling and the registration authority shall send notice in writing of the ruling to the applicant and shall take such steps as may be necessary to give effect to the ruling.

(2) (a) Before ruling on an appeal made to him under Rule 16 the county registrar may make such further inquiry as he may consider necessary and may require any person to give any information in his possession which the county registrar considers necessary for the purpose of his duties under this Rule.

(b) The provisions of paragraphs (4) and (5) of Rule 8 shall apply to the consideration of an appeal under this Part by the county registrar.

Preparation and publication of supplement to the register.

18. (1) As soon as may be after the twelfth day (disregarding any excluded day) before polling day at an election or a referendum, the registration authority shall prepare and publish a list of the names of persons (if any) whose applications to be entered in the supplement to the register were received on or before said twelfth day (disregarding any excluded day) before polling day and allowed by the registration authority, or on appeal by the county registrar.

(2) The list prepared under paragraph (1) shall form the supplement to the register.

(3) The supplement to the register shall be in such form as may be directed by the Minister.

PART III

Special Voters List

Application to be entered in the special voters list.

19. The following provisions shall apply in relation to an application to be entered in the special voters list pursuant to section 17

(a) the application shall be in the form directed by the Minister,

(b) the application shall be completed in accordance with the instructions provided thereon,

(c) the applicant shall, in the case of a first application and in the case of subsequent applications whenever required by the registration authority, furnish in support of his application a certificate in the form directed by the Minister from a medical practitioner certifying—

(i) the nature and extent of the physical illness or physical disability suffered by such applicant, and

(ii) an indication of the expected duration of such physical illness or physical disability,

(d) the application form duly completed and, where appropriate, the certificate referred to in paragraph (c) shall be delivered or sent by post, so as to be received by the registration authority not later than the date specified for that purpose in Rule 1.

Applicant to provide information or documents if required.

20. (1) An applicant to be included in the special voters list shall furnish to the registration authority any information or documents in his possession or procurement which the registration authority may require from him—

(a) so as to be satisfied that the applicant is a person to whom section 17 (2) applies, or

(b) for the purpose of their duties in relation to the preparation of the special voters list.

(2) Whenever a registration authority requires, pursuant to paragraph (1) information or documents from an applicant to be included in the special voters list, such applicant shall furnish the authority with the information or documents within the time (being not less than 7 days from the day on which the request is made) specified in the requirement and, if the applicant does not supply the required information or, as the case may be, documents within the time so specified, his application to be included in the special voters list shall be deemed to have been withdrawn.

Notices.

21. The registration authority shall, within the period specified for the purpose in Rule 1, arrange for the giving of public notice of—

(a) the category of electors entitled to apply to be entered in the special voters list;

(b) the manner in which, and the time before which, applications must be submitted; and

(c) the times and places at which application forms may be obtained.

Provision of application forms.

22. The registration authority shall arrange for the provision of application forms at such times and places as are specified in a notice published pursuant to Rule 21, and an application form shall be supplied free of charge to any person applying therefor.

Consideration of applications.

23. (1) Where the registration authority is satisfied that an applicant—

(a) is a person to whom section 17 (2) applies, and

(b) has duly completed his application form, and

(c) where appropriate, has submitted the certificate required pursuant to Rule 19,

the registration authority shall—

(i) rule that the application is granted and mark the application form accordingly, and

(ii) notify the applicant of the decision.

(2) Where the registration authority is not satisfied that an applicant—

(a) is a person to whom section 17 (2) applies, or

(b) has duly completed his application form, or

(c) where appropriate, has submitted the certificate required pursuant to Rule 19,

the registration authority shall—

(i) rule that the application is refused and mark the application form accordingly, and

(ii) notify the applicant of the decision and of the reasons therefor.

(3) Whenever an application is received by a registration authority after the specified date, the application shall be disregarded and the applicant shall be notified accordingly.

PART IV

General

Absence, incapacity or vacancy in office of county registrar.

24. If the office of county registrar is vacant or the county registrar is prevented by illness or other reasonable cause from carrying out his functions under this Schedule the said functions shall be performed during the period of the prevention by a person appointed by the county registrar with the approval of the Minister or, if no such appointment is made, or in the event of a vacancy in the office, by a person designated for the purpose by the Minister.

Publication of documents.

25. Where any document is required by this Schedule to be published the document may be published in such manner as the authority responsible for publishing consider desirable for the purpose of bringing the contents of the document to the notice of persons interested and in particular the document may be published by making copies of so much of the document as the said authority consider appropriate, available for public inspection (after consultation, where necessary, with the authority having charge of the building) in the office of the registration authority, the offices of the county registrar, post offices, garda stations, health centres and such other places as the said authority consider appropriate.

Method of sending notices etc.

26. Any copy of a claim, objection, notice or other document which is required under this Schedule to be sent to any person shall be sufficiently sent if sent by post to the address of that person as appearing on the draft register or register, or if there is no such address, to his last known address or place of abode.

Inquiry by registration authority etc.

27. An inquiry or request made pursuant to this Schedule by a registration authority, the corporation of a borough or the council of an urban district or by a county registrar may extend to matters outside the registration area.