BEWARE: People are spoiling their vote in General Election 2024 ...

yesterday

Limerick Leader

Voters around Ireland are being warned how now to spoil their vote by mistake, including one honest mistake some people are making at voting booths.

People will elect 174 TDs across 43 constituencies with polls open from 7am to 10pm across the country.

There are many ways votes can be spoiled in a General Election, including if someone intentionally writes something that is not a simple preference on their ballot paper like a protest message against a candidate or party. There are, however, other ways votes can be unintentionally spoiled. They will then not count towards the results of the election.

One of the main pitfalls people fall into is not using the designated numbering system. When you're ready to cast your vote at a polling station, you must indicate the order of your choice of candidates by writing '1' or 'one' inside the box beside the candidate of your first choice. If you wish to do so, you then place '2' or 'two' beside your second choice of candidate, and so on.

You can stop after selecting your first choice but you can also continue to indicate your preferences for as many candidates on the ballot paper as you want. People who may only want to vote for one candidate are particularly susceptible to a fatal mistake - ticking the box beside that candidate instead of putting the number '1.' If a tick or an 'x' is used in a box in this way, the vote will be deemed spoiled and discarded once it reaches the count centre.

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If you do list your preferences beyond your first, this then allows your vote to be transferred from your first choice to your second choice if your number one candidate has been eliminated or already elected.

Votes can also be spoiled if it is left blank, unstamped by the returning officer, contains illegible writing, somehow identifies the voter or the order of preference being unclear.

Ireland's system of voting is called proportional representation and this is how it works.

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