Vol. 537 No. 5
413 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the plans he has to change the system of counting votes; if he is concerned at the possibility that the votes of some people can be identified by tallymen; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17262/01]
I have concerns that this issue may be a problem for voters on a number of islands and perhaps more generally given the trend towards lower turnouts. I have included an amendment of the Electoral Act, 1992, in the Electoral (Amendment) Bill, 2000, to provide that, where a ballot box contains 50 or less ballot papers, the ballot box should be opened in view of agents but at a distance sufficient to ensure that preferences on the ballot papers cannot be identified.
Question No. 414 answered with Question No. 405.
