asked the Minister for the Environment if he proposes making any alterations to paragraph 16 of the booklet "Instructions to Presiding Officers at a Dáil Election or a Presidential Election or a Referendum" to authorise the presence of a poll clerk and a member of the Garda Síochána when the presiding officer is marking the ballot paper of an illiterate person.
Written Answers. - Assistance to Illiterate Voters.
609.
As I explained to the Deputy in the course of a debate in the House on 11 April 1984 (columns 1922—33) the procedure for assisting illiterate electors is set out in the electoral law. Under the law the presiding officer, in marking the ballot paper of an illiterate elector, must do so in the presence of the agents of the candidates and of no other person.
The purpose of the booklet of instructions issued to presiding officers is to set out in layman's language the main duties to be discharged by that officer. Obviously, the booklet cannot contain any instructions which would not be in accordance with the law. The law does not require specifically that the poll clerk or member of the Garda Síochána be excluded from the polling station while the procedure for assisting an illiterate voter is being carried out, and no difficulty appears to have arisen on this point apart from the particular case which the Deputy has raised. The relevant paragraph of the instructions for presiding officers which was used for the European Elections in June, was, however, revised so as to make it clear that what is required is that the illiterate elector is not overheard in indicating his voting preference, and suggesting a general procedure for this which would not involve exclusion from the polling station of the poll clerk or the member of the Garda Síochána. I hope that this will meet the Deputy's difficulty. If there is need for further clarification of the legal position I will be willing to avail of a suitable occasion to bring forward proposals to achieve this.