Full recount in Cork North Central could last up to three days

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A full recount of all 59,071 valid Cork North Central votes is now underway in Nemo Rangers after 29 discrepancies were found in a sample of 25% of papers during an initial check of ballot bundles.

The returning officer, Martin Harvey, said he would guesstimate that the full recount, which is currently the only recount in the country after Friday’s general election, could be finished by Tuesday evening.

Count staff Cian O’Connor wears an ‘unreal’ t-shirt as the recounting begins in Nemo after just 35 votes separated Labour’s Eoghan Kenny and People before people profit solidarity’s Mick Barry in the final count. Picture Chani Anderson

In the early hours of this morning, Labour Party candidate Eoghan Kenny had been deemed elected to the fifth and final seat on the seventeenth count with 7,461 votes, but with just 35 votes between them, outgoing People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Mick Barry immediately sought and was granted a recount.

Checking

Around 9.30am today, Mr Barry said he was happy that count staff would begin checking if there had been a bundle error with the 14,887 ballots between the two candidates.

A sample of 25% of those ballot papers found 29 discrepancies, with Mr Barry saying he was now calling for a full recount.

“Now, they broke towards us, but only by the most marginal amount, but 29 discrepancies in 25%, that’s quite a number of discrepancies, that would be 116 discrepancies over-all if that trend were to continue, in the context of a difference of 35 [votes],” Mr Barry said.

“So, the next step, this is a total recount, some people have asked is it partial or total, this is a total recount, but the next step in the total recount is to count all of the ballot papers, and that will commence almost immediately.” Mr Barry said his understanding was that he could withdraw from a recount at any time, but he said he was not considering a withdrawal.

Asked how he was feeling, he said he was feeling a little tired, having received only a little more than four hours’ sleep, “but apart from that, I feel cool as a breeze”.

Asked by The Echo if he knew the nature of the discrepancies found, he said he did not.

Returning officer Martin Harvey said he now had a full complement of 60 count staff in Nemo and believed that the recount might be over as early as Tuesday lunchtime.

“I would maybe guesstimate maybe lunchtime tomorrow or even tomorrow evening, Tuesday evening,” he said.

Earlier:

With bundles of ballots from Cork North Central currently being checked by count staff, returning officer Martin Harvey has said a full recount could last up to three days.

Labour Party candidate Eoghan Kenny was deemed elected to the fifth and final seat with 7,461 votes on the seventeenth count just before 1am this morning, but with just 35 votes between them, outgoing People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Mick Barry sought and was granted a recount.

  Recounting begins in Nemo after just 35 votes separated Labour’s Eoghan Kenny and People before people profit solidarity’s Mick Barry in the final count. Picture: Chani Anderson.

This morning, Mr Barry said he was seeking a full recount, but was happy that count staff would begin by checking if there had been a bundle error with the 14,887 ballots between the two candidates.

Agreed

Mr Harvey told The Echo that he and his staff had met with Mr Barry and with Mr Kenny’s agents this morning and an initial check of bundles had been agreed.

“You have a bundle of 1,000 votes, so that’s 20 bundles of 50, first of all we check that that’s correct. Secondly we check the top vote on it is assigned to the correct candidate, and we’re going to do that first with all of Mick’s votes and then with Eoghan’s votes and the other votes,” Mr Harvey said.

“Mick has said that after that process, he will take stock and consider the position, and at that stage, while he is saying he still wants a full recount, and we fully respect that, he will then decide whether he is to continue, or whatever he wants to do at that stage.” 

The initial checking of bundles is likely to be completed before lunchtime, he added.

There are already about 30 count staff in the centre, and Mr Harvey said that if there is to be a full recount of all the valid 59,071 votes, he would then get a further 20 to 30 staff in, and that recount could take two to three days.

Cumbersome

“It’s a long, drawn-out and cumbersome type of process, but we will keep going, but we won’t keep going into the night, because it’s likely to be a two to three-day event and it’s better to get it done properly than to get it done quickly,” he said.

Mr Harvey said each day of the recount would likely finish around 10pm and not extend into the night.

“The only time we would keep going through the night is if there is an end in sight for 2am or 3am in the morning.” 

Mr Harvey said a full recount would mean that all five candidates, while deemed elected, would not be declared elected until the recount was complete.

He said there would not be a blow-by-blow commentary of the recount given by staff, and full details of would only be given at the very end of the process.

“When the recount is finished, there is one announcement, and that’s advising the results of the recount and making a declaration as to who is elected,” Mr Harvey said.

Earlier:

A full recount of Cork North Central ballots was getting under way in the Nemo Rangers count centre just after 10am, with count staff initially checking to see if there has been an error in the counting of bundles of votes.

The recount comes after outgoing People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Mick Barry called, in the early hours of this morning, for a recount after Labour Party county councillor Eoghan Kenny was deemed elected to the fifth and final seat.

 

Mr Kenny was deemed elected with 7,461 votes on the seventeenth count at around 00.40am, but with only 35 votes between them, Mr Mick Barry sought and was granted a recount.

Immediately after the count, Mr Barry told The Echo that he intended to make a decision before 10am, when a recount would have to begin, as to whether he was seeking a full or partial recount.

Full recount

Just after 9.30am, he said he was seeking a full recount, but was happy that count staff would begin by checking if there had been a bundle error with the 14,887 ballots between the two candidates.

With only 20 count staff currently in the Nemo Rangers count centre, that check will focus on bundles of ballots, which are organised into units of 1,000, consisting of 20 bundles of 50 ballots each.

That should take staff up to approximately lunchtime, when Mr Barry said another conversation would then be had.

“We have asked for a full recount, and [returning officer] Martin Harvey has made it very clear if that’s our request, that’s what we’ll get,” Mr Barry said.

“However, what we’re going to do is we’re going to start out with a check on the bundles. If we’re going to overhaul 35 votes, it’s more likely to be on the basis of a bundle error rather than one here, one there.

“We’ll keep our options open on that, but we’re going to do the bundles first,” he said.

Lunchtime

With the count team currently short-staffed, it is understood that the bundle check is unlikely to be completed before lunchtime.

If a full recount of all of the 59,071 valid votes is sought, then that could go on for three days.

Earlier on Sunday, Sinn Féin’s Thomas Gould topped the poll, becoming the first candidate to be elected in the constituency following the tenth count, and Fianna Fáil's Pádraig O'Sullivan was elected on the twelfth count.

Last night, just after 10pm, outgoing Fine Gael TD Colm Burke and Independent Ireland city councillor Ken O’Flynn were deemed elected to the third and fourth seats on the fourteenth count, and the process of deciding the fifth seat then began.

Following the distribution of Colm Burke’s surplus on the fifteenth count, Mr Barry received 254 votes, putting him on 7,251, while Mr Kenny received 567 votes, putting him on 7,250, meaning there was only a single vote between the candidates.

Pádraig O’Sullivan’s surplus was then distributed, and on the sixteenth count Mr Barry received an additional 58 votes, putting him on 7,309 and Mr Kenny received 143, putting him on 7,393.

The distribution of Ken O’Flynn’s surplus then saw Mr Barry gain 117 votes on the seventeenth count, putting him on 7,426, and Mr Kenny gaining 68, putting him on 7,461.

Although Mr Kenny was deemed elected, the returning officer, Martin Harvey, then announced that Mr Barry had requested a recount, and he had acceded to that request.

More to follow.......