As Senators will be aware, it is intended to hold the referenda on the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution (Adoption) Bill, 1978, and the Seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Election of Members of Seanad Eireann by Institutions of Higher Education) Bill, 1979, together on 5 July. This Bill proposes to assist voters at the referenda by making available to them a statement relating to the proposals which are the subject of the referenda and by providing for the printing of headings on the ballot papers to identify the proposals to which they refer. It also proposes that the polls at the referenda be taken on the basis of counties and county boroughs instead of Dáil constituencies.
The explanatory memorandum circulated with the Bill has dealt fairly fully with the purpose and contents of this measure and it does not appear necessary for me to make a lengthy statement on the matter. Briefly, section 1 provides that a special card, containing the statement set out in the appendix to that section must be sent to every elector including postal voters. A single card will cover both referenda. The statement will also be displayed in and in the precincts of polling stations, and presiding officers will be authorised to assist blind, incapacitated and illiterate voters by reading out this statement to them, where necessary, and asking them whether they wish to vote in favour of or against the proposals and then marking the ballot papers in accordance with the voters' answers. These arrangements are the same as those made in relation to the referenda held in 1968 and 1972.
A further step to aid voters in distinguishing between the ballot papers at the forthcoming referenda is proposed in section 3 of the Bill. This section provides that a heading be printed on the front of each ballot paper indicating in large print the proposal to which the ballot paper relates. This provision, along with the measures I have already mentioned, should ensure that voters will not be confused when they come to cast their votes at the referenda.
Section 2 provides for the taking of the poll at the forthcoming referenda on the basis of counties and county boroughs instead of Dáil constituencies. This change will apply only to the forthcoming referenda and is being made because the referenda are to be held so soon after the European and local elections. The polls at these elections are being organised on a county basis and it should greatly facilitate local returning officers at the referenda if they can simply repeat the arrangements they made such a short time earlier. The polls at any future referenda will, of course, be held on the basis of Dáil constituencies.
