I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I presume there is an ongoing review of election procedures in the Department. Will the Minister of State update us on those procedures because, being realistic, we are now within weeks of an election?
I want to raise a number of matters with the Minister of State and I ask him to reply to them to the best of his ability. The first concerns the new procedures on nominations for general elections in light of the High Court decision on deposits etc. Has the Department come up with a formula in that regard? Will it be the case that only a certain number of people can nominate or what will be the position in that regard? Will pictures of candidates appear on the ballot papers? Have steps been taken to ensure that certain procedures are adhered to and that candidates or agents will be satisfied with those procedures?
I presume the Minister of State will be of a mind that, as far as possible, polling stations should be as accessible and user friendly as possible, although I am sure there may be difficulty with the odd polling station. While people who are handicapped in one way or other might be entitled to special voting arrangements, there are others for whom voting is part of a day out. Will direction be given to returning officers that, as far as possible, areas should be made wheelchair accessible etc.? I understand notice went out in one constituency recently to the effect that certain polling stations were not wheelchair accessible and people now have an opportunity to vote at an alternative station. I realise arrangements cannot be 100% perfect but I am sure the Minister of State would support, in principle, my thoughts on that matter.
I understand three constituencies have been selected to use electronic voting in the forthcoming election but will polling clerks be sufficiently briefed in that regard? Have these machines been tested and will there be a back-up system in place? Will people in the three nominated constituencies – Dublin North, Dublin West and Meath – have the option to vote using either system? What will happen if technical difficulties arise? I have had the experience, as I am sure have other Members, of arriving at a polling booth very early only to find that machines had broken down or there was a power failure. I am sure the Minister of State has discussed that aspect thoroughly with his senior Minister and the officials in the Department.
On the question of polling clerks and the instructions given to them, council officials or local teachers sometimes apply for the position. In the last Seanad election, instructions were given by the returning officer which obviously had not been read fully by some people resulting in certain votes being disallowed, through no fault of the returning officer or her assistant. It may be a case of certain information being passed down the line to officials – one official described it as the "Noddy Noddy letter"– but some people can be briefed morning, noon and night and they still do not take in the information. Is there a plan in place to ensure that instructions are fully effective? In the trial areas it may be necessary to brief those involved on this system because some people are less mechanically minded than others, particularly if they have not used these machines previously, regardless of what will be explained to the public.
There should be some latitude in terms of people getting on the supplementary register. If people want to vote, they should be allowed to vote.
I ask the Minister of State to take on board the various points I have made. I am sure he and his officials have been working on these matters but given the mistakes made in the past, a full examination of this area is needed, although I acknowledge trials have taken place. I thank the Chair for his indulgence. I am sure he will agree with some of the points I have made.