Any matter I raise always is to the point. This Bill makes provision for a variety of things in connection with the Presidential election and the Money Resolution is to provide the money in connection with the expenses of putting the Bill into operation. The point I wish to raise now was referred to by me at the end of the debate on the Second Reading. In Section 21, I think it is, the Minister will find that there is power there for the candidates to appoint agents, as is the practice at the ordinary Parliamentary elections. On the last occasion I pointed out to the Vice-President that, if the Government wished that a man of note in this country, unconnected, say, with political Parties, should go up for election, there should be some machinery, other than the present method that is employed in Parliamentary elections, to cope with, say, personation. It is absurd to expect that any ordinary citizen of this State, no matter how eminent, would be able to provide agents for a nation-wide or a Statewide election. I presume that, in connection with the Presidential election, there will be at least as many booths as there were in the case of the last Parliamentary election. They may not absolutely coincide—I do not know whether the Bill makes any provision for that; I do not think it does—but it is, I think the Vice-President will admit, altogether beyond the power of an individual who may think, or whose supporters may think, that he has a good claim to be considered in connection with this high position, to provide agents to prevent personation. Even where you have a large number of candidates and a circumscribed area of election, such as a county or half a county, the Vice-President knows the extraordinary difficulty of preventing personation. If there is personation on a large scale, as can easily happen unless effective steps are taken to prevent it, it makes the election of President ridiculous. The result of an election held under these circumstances can claim in no sense to be the verdict of the people.
When we had a State election before in connection with the election to the Seanad—we tried that on one occasion: with the full register—I think the general experience was that it was extremely difficult to cope with that particular abuse. Now you are going in the case of this important election to leave it entirely to the devices of the candidate. There is only one way to check personation, unless the State itself steps in and attends to that particular business of devising machinery to prevent personation, namely, that political Parties will do it. I understood it was the intention of the Government as far as possible to remove this election from the realm of Party politics. If they refuse to make proper provision for the prevention of personation, then they are insisting, as a practical issue, that this will be merely a struggle between Parties. The only bodies who can then provide these agents—and they may find it difficult very often—will be the organised political Parties. Remember, any Party whatsoever is capable of providing agents much more effectively than an individual.
On the last occasion the Vice-President said it was the duty of the Guards to take the initiative in preventing personation. I wonder whether that is actually a duty incumbent on the Guards? I have never seen them act on it. I have been told again and again in connection with elections that all the Guards are supposed to do is to deal with cases of personation brought to their particular notice, but it is the business either of the returning officer or the personation agents to challenge those guilty, or whom they suspect to be guilty, of personation and then call the attention of the Guards to the matter. The Vice-President will easily see that if the functions of the Guards begin and stop there, you have no effective control of personation in the absence of a full complement of personation agents. I put it, therefore, to the Vice-President that provision should be made in this Bill or in the Money Resolution for expenses of that kind. We are told that this is the most honourable office in the State, that it is desirable to get men who will do honour to the position, who will not be too closely identified with Party politics, but unless effective steps are taken to see that there is a fair election, then the Government are handing it over completely into the hands of Party machines.