The Bill before the House will consolidate and amend the domestic law relating to European elections. It is part of a programme to consolidate and update electoral law. It follows the Electoral Act, 1992, the Presidential Elections Act, 1993, the Referendum Act, 1994, and the Local Government Acts, 1991 and 1994, relating to local elections. When this Bill is enacted, two electoral codes will remain to be updated. I am sure the House can identify these as the Seanad electoral codes contained in Acts of 1937, 1947 and 1954.
Given the special importance of electoral law and its direct relevance to each citizen, making the various election law codes more accessible and comprehensible to all is a necessary and desirable objective. Unlike most other electoral codes, there are no specific constitutional provisions relating to European elections. However, a 1976 Community Act laid down principles relating to direct elections to the Parliament which have direct application in all member states. It may be useful for the House if I detail the main principles still in force.
Representatives to the Assembly, renamed the Parliament in 1987, are elected for a term of five years, each outgoing Parliament remaining in office until the first sitting of its successor. It is incompatible with membership of the Parliament to be a member of, or employed by, certain EU institutions or to be a member of the Government of a member state. Further incompatibilities may be laid down in national law. Membership of the Parliament is not incompatible with membership of a national parliament. No one may vote more than once in an election of representatives. The poll must be taken throughout the Union in the same Thursday to Sunday period in June every five years. Should it prove impossible to hold the election during this period, another period not more than one month before or after may be selected. The counting of votes may not begin until after the close of poll in the member state whose electors are last to vote. The Parliament verifies the credentials of representatives, taking note of the results declared officially by each member state. It is empowered to rule on any disputes arising out of the provisions of the Community Act but not on disputes arising out of national provisions. Each member state must lay down appropriate procedures for filling any seat which falls vacant during the five year term of office of the Parliament. Pending the entry into force of a uniform electoral procedure to the Parliament, and subject to the other provisions of the Community Act, the electoral procedure is to be governed in each member state by its national provisions.
Article 138(3) of the European Treaty, as amended by the Maastricht Treaty, provides for European elections to be conducted in accordance with a uniform procedure in all member states. No such procedure has been introduced to date. A uniform procedure is likely to involve some kind of proportional representation system, but the Treaty would not appear to rule out some discretion regarding the detail of the PR system to be adopted by individual member states. The Bill, therefore, provides for our existing PR-STV electoral system.
The Maastricht Treaty inserted a provision in the European Treaty that Union citizens have the right to vote at and contest European elections in their host member state. The detailed arrangements for the exercise of these rights were set out in a 1993 directive which was transposed into Irish law in 1994. The provisions of the relevant regulations are incorporated in the Bill.
The major change arising from the directive was the extension to resident Union citizens of the right to stand for election in Ireland to the Parliament. Resident Union citizens have had the right to vote at European elections in Ireland since the first direct elections in 1979. In accordance with the 1993 directive, section 6 of the Bill provides that European electors included on the register for the 1994 elections are exempt from the directive. Furthermore, in recognition of the fact that Ireland and the United Kingdom extend reciprocal voting rights to each other's citizens at national elections, there is a derogation in the directive for Irish citizens living in the UK and British citizens living in Ireland.
The first domestic Act relating to elections to the European Assembly, as it was then known, was enacted in 1977. In the 20 years since we have had four European elections and numerous amendments to the law. At present, a person enquiring about European electoral law would need to consult six separate statutes, as well as regulations. With the next elections due in 1999, the time is opportune to update the law, which will bring the entire code within the pages of a single document.
While the Bill is essentially a consolidation measure, designed to restate existing law in a more convenient form and in a clearer idiom, it contains a number of improvements. I will now detail the principal changes. The Bill omits the former provision for the office of chief returning officer and transfers the functions to the Clerk of the Dáil, who already has a substantive role in relation to the filling of casual vacancies, and to the Minister. This will streamline administration relating to elections.
Under existing law, a person who holds office as Attorney General cannot contest a European election without resigning from that office. This is in contrast to Ministers of State who may stand for election while retaining their positions. In view of the fact that the Attorney General is not a member of the Government, there is no justification for treating the two types of office holder differently. Section 11 will permit the Attorney General to stand for election while providing that, if elected to the Parliament, he or she will automatically cease to hold the office of Attorney General. To avoid speculation, the present Attorney General has not indicated any intention of standing for election to the Parliament in the future. The amendment is proposed solely to eliminate an existing legal anomaly.
The law in relation to questioning an election by way of petition is being brought into line with petition procedures in other electoral codes. Section 21 provides that a petition may only be presented with the leave of the High Court which must be sought within seven days of the declaration of the result. The petition itself must be presented within three days of the grant of leave by the court.
The Bill also includes changes to bring the European code into line with the Dáil code. These changes include refunding the deposit to candidates whose votes exceed one quarter of the quota, rather than one third as at present. The ballot paper is being brought more into line with the Dáil ballot paper. The period for retaining election documents is being reduced from 12 to six months and monetary penalties are being increased in line with similar penalties in the Dáil code.
During the passage of the Bill through the Dáil, amendments were agreed to include certain provisions in the Electoral (Amendment) Act, 1996, sponsored by Deputy Mary Wallace, relating to wheelchair access at elections and postal voting for electors with a physical illness or disability. This Bill goes further than the 1996 Act by making it mandatory for returning officers to conduct the count in the four European constituencies in buildings which are accessible to wheelchair users.
Another important amendment agreed by the Dáil was provision for the inclusion of photographs on ballot papers. Subject to ironing out the technical difficulties, this will be done at the 1999 European elections. Consideration will be given to including photographs on ballot papers at other elections, including Seanad elections, if the experience at the 1999 elections is positive.
The Dáil also agreed an amendment that a non-party MEP standing for election could include on the ballot paper the name of the political group in the Parliament of which he or she is a member. This is intended to reflect the reality that the candidate would still be an MEP during the election. Up to now the inclusion of the name of a political group in the Parliament on a ballot paper was confined to candidates belonging to registered political parties represented in the Parliament.
Section 15 and the Third Schedule re-enact the existing European Parliament constituencies, each with the same number of seats recommended by an independent commission and used for the 1994 elections. These constituencies are four seaters in Dublin city and county, in the rest of Leinster and in Munster, and a three seater in Connacht/Ulster. Under the terms of the Electoral Bill, 1994, an independent commission will be established on publication of the results of each census with the task of making a report within six months on the formation of Dáil and European constituencies. The terms of reference for the commission set out in the 1994 Bill are essentially the same as those given to previous non-statutory commissions. The present Bill provides that the Minister must submit proposals to the Oireachtas for a review of European constituencies by 1 December 2003 at the latest and at least once every ten years thereafter.
There are 25 sections in the body of the Bill setting out its main provisions. The detailed provisions are set in four Schedules. The First Schedule lists the enactments repealed and the regulations revoked by the Bill. The Second Schedule comprises 150 rules dealing with all aspects of an election. The Third Schedule defines the four European constituencies and the Fourth Schedule specifies the format of the ballot paper.
I will now outline the main provisions in the body of the Bill not previously referred to. Section 6 implements the 1993 directive in relation to registering Union citizens ordinarily resident in the State as European electors. They must apply to be registered and furnish a statutory declaration in support of their application. The section also provides for information exchange between member states with a view to preventing double voting.
Section 7 provides that European elections will be held according to the principle of proportional representation, each elector having a single transferable vote. Voting will be by secret ballot.
Section 9 specifies that electors may vote in person at a polling station, by post or by means of the special arrangement for voting in institutions. Under the terms of the Electoral (Amendment) Act, 1996, electors with a physical illness or disability living at home will now be able to vote by post if they are unable to go to their local polling station. The special voting arrangement will in future be confined to electors with a physical illness or disability living in institutions.
Section 11 restates the law in relation to eligibility for election to and membership of the Parliament. It also implements the 1993 directive in relation to Union citizens living and standing for election in the State. Thus, it provides that a person who has reached 21 years of age and is either an Irish citizen or a national of another member state living in the State is eligible to stand for election to the Parliament in the State, to be nominated as a replacement candidate and to be a member of the Parliament. However, a person is not eligible if subject to certain disqualifications applicable to Dáil membership. It follows that a person is disqualified if a member of the Garda Síochána or a wholetime member of the Defence Forces or a civil servant whose terms of employment do not expressly permit membership of the Parliament. As in other electoral codes, persons of unsound mind, undischarged bankrupts and persons undergoing prison sentences exceeding six months are also disqualified. Judges and the Comptroller and Auditor General must resign their positions if they wish to contest an election. Other persons disqualified are Irish citizens standing for election in their host member state and Union citizens deprived of the right to contest the election in their home member state.
Section 11 also provides that, if elected to the Parliament, the Attorney General, the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Dáil or Seanad and Ministers of State cease to hold those offices. Furthermore, if a member of the Parliament becomes subject to any of the above disqualifications or becomes the holder of any of the above offices, he or she thereupon ceases to be a member of the Parliament.
Under section 12 a person may nominate himself or herself as a candidate at a European election or may, with his or her consent, be nominated by a European elector for the constituency concerned. The section also provides that each registered political party and each non-party candidate in a constituency may nominate one or more replacement candidates for the purpose of filling vacancies in the membership of the Parliament for that constituency.
Section 13 stipulates that a deposit of £1,000 must be lodged by or on behalf of each candidate before the close of nominations. This is the same as at present.
Section 15 and the Third Schedule prescribe the constituencies for the European elections. The section also provides that the Minister must take account of the report of any statutory commission before submitting proposals to the Oireachtas for a review of European constituencies.
Section 16 provides that the Minister must appoint a returning officer for each European constituency from among the local returning officers in each constituency. The returning officer is responsible for functions which must be discharged centrally in each constituency, for example, the receipt of nominations, counting the votes and declaring the election result.
Section 17 provides that there shall be a local returning officer for each county or county borough contained in a constituency. The local returning officers are the city and county sheriffs in the case of Dublin and Cork and the county registrars in every other case. The local returning officer is responsible for taking the poll and verifying the ballot paper accounts.
Section 19 provides for the filling of casual vacancies in Ireland's representation in the Parliament in accordance with Part XIII of the Second Schedule. A vacancy is filled by the replacement candidate whose name stands highest on the replacement candidate list concerned. A replacement candidate will not be eligible to fill a casual vacancy if he or she is already a member of the Parliament, is not eligible to be elected, is not willing to serve as a member or, in the case of a party list, is no longer a member of the party concerned. If no replacement candidate list has been presented or the relevant list is exhausted, the Dáil may select a replacement from another replacement candidates list presented for the constituency concerned.
Section 21 and Part XV of the Second Schedule specify the petitions procedure. The grounds of a petition are limited to specific factors likely to have affected the result of the election. These are want of eligibility of candidates, electoral offences, obstruction of the election and irregularity or failure to conduct the election in accordance with law. The court will, if possible, determine the correct election result and if it cannot do so will declare the whole or part of the election void, giving its reasons. Where the court declares that the whole or part of an election is void, a fresh election must be held unless a general election of representatives to the Parliament is due within six months. The decision of the High Court on a petition is final, subject only to appeal to the Supreme Court on a question of law.
The Second Schedule contains 16 Parts each dealing with a specific aspect of the election procedures. Altogether, the Schedule contains 150 rules covering the election proper, casual vacancies and election petitions. The rules are listed on pages 19 to 25 of the Bill. I have already referred to the main changes in these rules. Most rules are standard for Presidential, Dáil and local elections and in some cases referenda.
To conclude, this Bill is a solid piece of consolidation law, incorporating a number of worthwhile reforms. I commend the Bill to the House.