Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 22 Jun 1999

Vol. 506 No. 5

Adjournment Debate. - Supervision of Voting.

Mr. Sargent

I received very disquieting reports from concerned citizens who witnessed first-hand a number of incidents but particularly the one to which I refer where a ballot paper of a voter with an intellectual disability was filled in by a third party while the supposed voter rummaged in a bag apparently unaware of why she was in the polling station. When this incidence was reported to the presiding officer, he was very unclear about what could be done as it seems the procedures are at best vague and at worst totally inadequate to ensure proper supervision and the integrity of the secret ballot is maintained.

At present a person with a physical disability is allowed the assistance of a companion but the position for a person with an intellectual disability seems very unclear. Nobody would want to disenfranchise a person who wished to vote and knew for whom he wished to vote. However, the presiding officer should determine that the voter has the ballot paper marked in accordance with the voter's wishes. That is a basic requirement. When and how will supervision be improved to ensure that voting by a companion of a person with an intellectual disability is in accordance with the voter's wishes?

I understand presiding officers have had to make very difficult judgment calls on the capability of voters to exercise their franchise when they present themselves at a polling station. Clearly, this is a very difficult call to make and I call on the Minister to set out a clear procedure to avoid embarrassing situations in a public polling station when a presiding officer is faced with such a difficult decision. Is it not too onerous a task to expect a presiding officer to judge the intellectual ability of a voter on a first impression in a polling station?

Finally, the portraits of candidates on ballot papers is a very welcome development which I hope will be extended to all elections in future. I suggest this development will help reduce the need for companions to assist voters with literacy problems. The provision of Braille ballot papers would also greatly help in reducing the need for companions to assist voters with visual disabilities. Will the companion arrangement be reviewed once the printing of candidate portraits on all ballot papers becomes standard, which I hope will happen, given that it will radically change the situation for people with literacy problems exercising their vote?

Each election presents us with opportunities to evaluate procedures and introduce improvements. Is the Government setting itself the task of improving procedures for future elections? Other issues arose in the elections which I will not discuss now as I do not have time to do so. For example, the early opening of polling stations was marred by the late arrival of boxes in some areas, resulting in people not being able to vote as early as they thought they could. These people could not wait as they had to go to work and as a result were disenfranchised. Clearly, there is a need to tighten procedures. I hope the recent elections will provide an opportunity to evaluate existing procedures and improve on them in future elections.

Dr. Moffatt

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. My colleague, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Deputy Dempsey, is unable to be in the House to respond and has asked me to do so on his behalf.

I should first explain that the conduct of an election, including the procedure for voting and the supervision of voting, is a matter for the appropriate returning officer in accordance with electoral law. In relation to the procedure for voting at a polling station, electoral law requires that a person issued with a ballot paper shall go alone into a voting compartment in the polling station and shall secretly record his or her vote on the ballot paper. However, there are exceptions to this requirement and electoral law specifies categories of electors who may be assisted.

A person who satisfies the presiding officer that he or she is unable to vote due to impairment of his or her eyesight or due to physical incapacity may have his or her ballot paper marked for him or her, on his or her instruction, by a companion, or if he or she wishes by the presiding officer. The companion must be at least 16 years of age, must not be a candidate or an agent of a candidate at the election and may not mark, as a companion, more than two ballot papers at the election.

An elector who satisfies the presiding officer that he or she is unable to read or write to such an extent that he or she is unable to vote without assistance may have the ballot paper marked for him or her by the presiding officer only. When the presiding officer marks a ballot paper for an elector he or she must do so in the presence of the elector and of the agents; no other person is entitled to be present. In relation to voting by people with mental disability, they must be able to apply for a ballot paper and state their name or address. They may be required to produce evidence of identity, answer questions or make an oath or affirmation.

As I have outlined, there are special arrangements to assist electors with physical disabilities, visual impairment or reading or writing difficulties to exercise their voting rights. However, there is no similar provision for companion voting for persons with a mental disability. In this regard, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government is not aware of the serious reports of malpractice to which the Deputy referred in his contribution. However, if the Deputy makes the details available to the Minister, he will bring the information to the attention of the relevant returning officer and, if necessary, will have the matter considered in the context of the ongoing review of electoral law in his Department.

I will also bring to the attention of the Minister the other suggestions made by the Deputy.