I move that the Bill be now read a Second Time. This Bill is consequential on the University (Abolition of Seats) Bill, which was recently passed. The Constitution (Amendment No. 23) Act which recently became law deleted from the Constitution the provisions of Article 27 which gave to Universities the right to elect three representatives to Dáil Eireann upon a franchise and in a manner to be prescribed by law. The Electoral Act, 1923, duly made provision for the compilation of registers of University electors and for the holding of elections in Universities, and this Bill repeals the sections of the Electoral Act which relate to University franchise and elections.
Article 14 of the Constitution declares that no voter may exercise more than one vote at an election to Dáil Eireann, and Section 1 of the Electoral Act enables that a qualified citizen is entitled to be registered once as an elector in one, but not more than one, constituency in Saorstát Eireann. Rule 22 in the First Schedule to the Act directs registration officers to correct the electors' lists by removing duplicate entries. Registration as a University elector does not in any way affect registration as a local government elector. Removal of a duplicate entry thus means that the name is transferred to Division III of the register, that being the portion of the register containing the names of persons entitled to vote as local government electors only.
In the register which has just come into force the entries of University electors have been generally removed as duplicate entries, and the University registers have been prepared as usual. This is necessary because it might be necessary to hold a bye-election before University representation ceases. As, however, there is no fixed date for the dissolution of the Oireachtas, but only a period of maximum duration, it is necessary to make arrangements which will have the effect of restoring to the registers in county and county borough constituencies the entries which had been removed as duplicate entries, and to make those entries effective when the Constitution (Amendment) No. 23 Act comes into effect.
The register which came into force on the 1st June of this year, remains in force until 1st June, 1937; a new register will then come into force and remain in force until 1st June, 1938. This Bill makes the necessary provisions in the event of a general election during the continuance of either of those registers. As regards the first register, it would not be a workable solution to make alterations on the printed page. The only satisfactory solution is to extract by registration units the names of University electors appearing in the current register according to the place of residence and, in the event of a general election being held before 1st June, 1937, those extracts would be treated as part of the register of Dáil electors for the local constituency. I believe that there are many instances of persons who are registered as Dáil electors in both a University and local constituency. The reason is mainly due to the fact that the latest address for actual residence on the qualifying date does not always appear in the University registers. But if a person is registered twice he can only vote once, and the statutory question: "Have you already voted at this election?" can be asked in any case of doubt.
These difficulties will disappear in regard to the 1937-1938 Register. Instead of removing the duplicate entry, the registration officer will place a mark against the entry which will indicate that the person is not entitled to vote in respect of that entry except at the general election, and subsequent elections to Dáil Eireann.
