I move amendment No. 3:—
2. In page 2, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following new section:—
4.—At a constitutional referendum in relation to the Third Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1958—
(a) a polling card sent under sub-section (1) of Section 4 of the Referendum (Amendment) Act, 1946, shall contain the statement set out in the Appendix to this section,
(b) a polling card shall also be sent by the local returning officer for a constituency to every elector whose name is on the register of Dáil electors for such constituency and is on the postal voters' list for such constituency,
(c) a polling card sent under paragraph (b) of this section—
(i) shall indicate that it is for a postal voter and shall accordingly not state the number and situation of polling place referred to in sub-section (1) of the said Section 4,
(ii) shall contain the statement referred to in paragraph (a) of this section, and
(iii) shall be sent by post to the elector at the same time as his ballot paper is sent, being addressed to him at the same address as is stated on the envelope in which the ballot paper is sent,
(d) sub-sections (3) to (6) of the said Section 4 shall apply in relation to polling cards sent under paragraph (b) of this section,
(e) copies of the statement referred to in paragraph (a) of this section may be displayed in or in the precincts of polling stations,
(f) notwithstanding Section 2 of this Act and sub-paragraph (ii) of paragraph 2 of the Second Schedule thereto, in applying paragraph (3) of rule 18 of the rules contained in the First Schedule to the Referendum Act, 1942—
(I) the following sub-paragraph shall be substitued for sub-paragraph (a) of that paragraph:
"(a) the presiding officer shall read out to the voter the Short Title of the Bill containing the proposal to amend the Constitution as stated on the ballot paper and then ask the voter, ‘Do you approve of or do you object to that Bill becoming law?"'
(II) the following sub-paragraph shall be substituted for sub-paragraph (c) of that paragraph:—
"(c) where the voter fails to understand the import of the said question, the presiding officer—
(i) shall read out to the voter such summary of the proposal which is the subject of the referendum as is contained in the statement set out in the Appendix to Section 4 of the Referendum (Amendment) Act, 1959,
(ii) shall then ask the voter ‘Which do you wish to do—to vote in favour of the proposal? or to vote against the proposal?', and
(iii) shall then mark the ballot paper in accordance with the answer of the voter;"
APPENDIX
The following Summary of the principal proposals in the Third Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1958, is circulated for the information of voters:
At present, members of Dáil Éireann are elected on a system of P.R. for constituencies returning at least three members, each voter having a single transferable vote.
It is proposed in the Bill to abolish the system of P.R. and to adopt, instead, a system of single member constituencies, each voter having a single non-transferable vote.
It is also proposed in the Bill to set up a commission for the determination and revision of the constituencies, instead of having this done by the Oireachtas, as at present.
If you APPROVE of the proposals in the Bill, place an X opposite the word YES on the Ballot Paper.
If you DO NOT APPROVE of the proposals in the Bill, place an X opposite the word NO on the Ballot Paper.
A copy of the full text of the Bill can be inspected and purchased at all Post Offices throughout the country.
The purpose of this amendment is to provide for the circulation to voters of a summary of the principal proposals in the Third Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1958; for the display of the summary as a notice at polling stations and for the reading of the summary by presiding officers at polling stations to incapacitated voters who fail to understand the import of the prescribed question: "Do you approve of or do you object to that Bill becoming law?"
The statement set out in the appendix of the amendment is the statement agreed to by the parties in the House and read out by the Minister in the Dáil on 27th January, 1959. (Dáil Debates Volume 172, No. 8, columns 1110-1111).
Section 4 (1) of the Referendum (Amendment) Act, 1946, provides for the issue to voters of polling cards giving the voter's number and polling station. The summary will be included in these cards.
The cards are required to be issued by local returning officers at such time that they will be delivered in the ordinary course of post not later than the third day before polling day.
Normally, polling cards are not sent to postal voters. At the referendum on the Third Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1958, the local returning officer will, however, be required to send the cards, including the summary of the principal proposals of the Bill, to postal voters at the same time as ballot papers are being sent to them. The polling cards for postal voters will not state the voter's number or polling station since voting in these cases will be by post.
Sub-sections (3) to (6) of Section 4 of the 1946 Act provide for the arrangements with the Post Office for the delivery of the polling cards (sub-section (3)), the expenses of the local returning officer in issuing the cards (sub-section (4)), that a referendum shall not be invalidated by reason of the failure of the local returning officer to send a polling card to any elector or by reason of the non-delivery of a polling card or of any error or misstatement in a polling card, (sub-section (5)), and that no action or other proceeding shall lie against a local returning officer in respect of any error or misstatement in any polling card (sub-section (6)).
Paragraph (f) of the amendment deals with the questions which the presiding officer may ask an incapacitated voter who applies to have his ballot paper marked in the referendum on the Third Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1958. Under the provisions the presiding officer reads out to the voter the Short Title of the Bill and asks "Do you approve of or do you object to that Bill becoming law?", marking the voter's ballot paper in accordance with his answer. If the voter fails to understand the import of the question the presiding officer is required to read out the summary of the Bill as set out in the Appendix of the amendment and ask "Which do you wish to do—to vote in favour of the proposal? or to vote against the proposal?", marking the voter's ballot paper in accordance with the answer. A request made by a voter within four hours before the close of the poll to have his ballot paper marked for him may be refused by the presiding officer, if in his opinion, having regard to the number of voters coming in to vote, his acceding to such request would interfere with the proper discharge of his duties or would unduly obstruct the voting of other voters. (Rule 18 (2) of First Schedule to Referendum Act, 1942.)
Article 2 of the Second Schedule to the Bill is not being touched. It will deal with constitutional referenda generally.