asked the Minister for Local Government whether his attention has been directed to the rejection of 17 ballot papers in the recent Seanad election because of faults in the declarations of identity signed by certain "authorised persons"; if he will state what purpose these "authorised persons" serve if their signed certificates of identity can be rejected because of faults in entering (or omitting to enter) the ballot paper numbers on the said declarations; further, in view of the fact that the instructions to voters are printed on the back of the document which is only tendered to the voter at the time of voting, he will consider a change in procedure to ensure that the form of identity is supplied in advance to the voters or that the onus of ensuring that the form of identity is correctly filled in before he signs it, is placed on the "authorised person" and further, if, in view of the large number of papers rejected and the injustice to the voters concerned, he will consider having these "authorised persons" instructed in the proper discharge of their duties.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Rejection of Seanad Ballot Papers.
I understand that certain ballot papers were rejected because the electors concerned had failed to enter the ballot paper numbers on their declarations of identity or had entered numbers which did not correspond with the ballot paper numbers. The onus of completing the declaration of identity rests on the elector. The functions of an "authorised person" are set out in the first Schedule to the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act, 1947. They are:
(1) To satisfy himself that the elector has five unmarked ballot papers;
(2) To furnish the elector with a form of declaration of identity which is required by the Act to be made and completed by the elector;
(3) To mark this form "duplicate" if the elector's ballot papers are duplicate ballot papers;
(4) To sign the declaration of identity as witness that the elector is personally known or has been identified to him and has produced to him the ballot papers unmarked and the envelope in which they were enclosed and has signed the declaration in his presence and to return the declaration of identity to the elector who then marks his ballot papers;
(5) To affix a label to the closed covering envelope in which the elector has placed his ballot papers, ballot paper envelope and declaration of identity; to sign the certificate on the label and to return the envelope to the elector.
The law requires the elector to insert the ballot paper number on his declaration of identity. This requirement was brought specially to the notice of every elector in a circular issued by the Seanad returning officer before polling took place in the last Seanad General Election. The procedure set out in the 1947 Act was adopted following consideration of the recommendation of the Joint Committee of the Dáil and Seanad on Seanad Panel Elections which reported in May, 1947. I do not propose to promote legislation to amend the procedure in such a way as to place on the "authorised persons" the onus of verifying the ballot paper numbers shown by the electors on their declarations of identity. The onus is on the elector to exercise his vote in accordance with law, if he wishes it to be effective. It would be improper to amend the law in such a way that the onus would be placed even partially upon an "authorised person" whose purpose is to identify the elector and to ensure that the ballot papers are marked in secret. I understand that, in connection with the last Seanad general election, the "authorised persons" carried out their duties satisfactorily and I am satisfied that they need no further instruction in the proper discharge of their duties.
Would the Minister agree that the facts involved in this particular question indicate how completely unsatisfactory the present electoral method for the Seanad is?
The Minister would agree with nothing of the kind.
There was some wangling done.
Would the Minister agree that it is undesirable that any authorised person should be allowed to act if it can be proved, as it can be in some cases, that he has a family interest in the candidate?
The question as to what interest such persons have is a complete surprise to me. I am merely stating what is the law. The law places upon the elector a responsibility of doing certain things. I agree that the law is correct in placing this responsibility on the elector and that is my reason for saying that I do not agree with the suggestion that has been made.
Is it possible for the Minister to trace those authorised persons who were responsible for rejected ballot papers by reason of the fact that they were not completed correctly?
I cannot say.
How has the Minister satisfied himself if he has not traced the papers to the authorised persons?
The authorised person is not responsible by law for the insertion of the numbers of the ballot paper on the identification card. The authorised person has a legal function that is defined in the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act and the authorised person would not be within his rights in exceeding those clearly defined duties.