Direct Mayoral Election

Plebiscites

Part 6 of the 2024 Act  deals with the holding of plebiscites to consider proposals by other local authorities to provide for a directly elected mayor of their administrative area.

There is a process for initiating a proposal to hold a plebiscite, which can be in the following ways:

• The corporate policy group of a local authority submits a report to the elected council recommending a proposal and the council approves that proposal by resolution;
• The Minister receives a petition requesting a plebiscite signed by more than 20% of the electors in a local authority that is certified as valid by the chief executive;
• The Minister so directs.

A resolution by the council on the proposal of the corporate policy group with the group’s report or a valid petition must be submitted by the Cathaoirleach (in the case of a resolution) or the chief executive (in the case of a petition) of the local authority concerned to the Minister not later than 30 days after the passing of the resolution or receipt of the petition.

The plebiscite must be held within 12 months and the Minister sets the date by order made between 60 and 90 days before the date on which it is held. An Coimisiún Toghcháin is to arrange for the distribution of information to bring the proposal to the attention of the electors, including a summary of the functions of a directly elected mayor, the likely cost and resource implications, the likely impact of an office of mayor on the local authority’s performance of functions, and the nature of the relationship between the authority and an elected mayor.

Conduct of Plebiscite

There is provision for  advance polling for a plebiscite. Where it is in the public interest in certain circumstances such as a pandemic or due to Covid-19, it enables the Minister to make a relevant order with the consent of An Coimisiún Toghcháin to enable an advance poll at a plebiscite to be taken on the day before the day appointed for the poll. It requires that notice for such an advance poll be published in Iris Oifigiúil, and the relevant returning officer must give public notice of the time and day of the advance poll.

Regulations are to be made by the Minister that apply to the conducting of plebiscites under the Act. Regulations made under this section may provide, inter alia, for:

• The form of the ballot paper in respect of a plebiscite, including the wording of the proposal to be included on the ballot paper;
• Arrangements and requirements relating to the publication of notices and the provision of information to electors;
• The appointment of the returning officer for the purposes of the plebiscite;

• The taking of the poll and counting of votes; and
• Arrangements for voting at the plebiscite.

Where regulations are proposed to be made under this section, a draft is to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and the regulations shall not be made until a resolution approving the draft has been passed by each House.

Statutory provisions, relating to electoral offences, of the Local Elections Regulations 1995 apply and have effect in relation to a plebiscite subject to any necessary modification specified in the regulations made. Persons entitled to vote in the plebiscites are those entitled to vote at local elections for the local authority administrative area in which the plebiscite is being held.

Where the outcome of a plebiscite is in favour of a directly elected mayor, the Act requires the Minister within 2 years to submit a report to the Oireachtas containing proposals for legislative measures to provide for a directly elected Mayor of that administrative area.

The  costs incurred by a local authority in holding a plebiscite are to be borne by that local authority.

Spending

The 2024 Act inserts a new Part X, ‘Spending and Donations at Election for Mayor of Limerick’ into the Electoral Act 1997 (to provide for the limitation of expenditure at a Limerick Mayoral election, the reimbursement of election expenditure and for the disclosure of both donations and election expenses. The new Part X extends the scope of the Act of 1997 and it will now also apply in respect of a Limerick Mayoral election.

• prohibits a candidate or third party from accepting an anonymous donation exceeding €100.
• furnishing of a Limerick Mayoral election donation statement to the Standards in Public Office Commission not later than 56 days after polling day is  to include details of donations exceeding €600 and is to be furnished in a form directed by the Commission. The donation statement must be accompanied by a statutory declaration(s).
• places limits on the donation amounts that can be accepted from the same person by a candidate, Mayoral election agent or third party. The limit is €1,000 in respect of donations received by a candidate or Mayoral election agent and €2,500 for donations received by a third party. The maximum cash donation that may be accepted is €200. Donations in the form of a cryptocurrency are prohibited as are donations made from outside the island of Ireland unless made from an Irish citizen.
• provides that a candidate, Mayoral election agent or a third party that receives a monetary donation in excess of €100 will be required to open a political donations account. It also provides that a copy of a statement from the relevant financial institution detailing the transactions that have taken place in relation to the account should be submitted to the Standards in Public Office Commission.
• A certificate, signed by a Mayoral election agent or the responsible person of a third party, stating all monetary donations received into the account and all amounts debited from the account is also to be provided to the Standards in Public Office Commission together with a statutory declaration in the same matter.
• provides that a third party who receives a donation which exceeds €100 in value for the purposes of promoting the election of a candidate or otherwise affecting the outcome of a Limerick Mayoral election shall register with the Standards in Public Office Commission.
• provides for the appointment of a Mayoral election agent and the notification of that election agent to the Mayoral returning officer not later than the last day for receipt of nominations. It also provides for the notification by the Mayoral returning officer to the Standards in Public Office Commission, and the public, of the names and details of the Mayoral election agents that are appointed.
• provides for the making of contracts through the Mayoral election agent, where the value of the contract exceeds €635.
• provides for meaning to be given to the term ‘election expenses’, which is defined with reference to the Schedule to the Act of 1997. Election expenses may only be incurred by the Mayoral election agent or by a person authorised by the Mayoral election agent to do so. The Mayoral election agent is responsible for accounting for expenditure incurred on behalf of the candidate. Expenditure incurred by a political party or by a body in support of the candidature of a candidate is deemed to have been incurred on behalf of the candidate and must be accounted for by the candidate’s Mayoral election agent.
• provides for the setting of the period in respect of which election expenses are reckoned at a Limerick Mayoral election. It provides that following the making of the polling day order, the Minister shall specify the election expenditure period, which is to commence between 50 and 60 days prior to polling day and end on polling day. The same spending period is to apply in respect of a local election and a Limerick Mayoral election held on the same day.
• provides that the limit of election expenses which may be incurred by or on behalf of a candidate at a Limerick Mayoral election be set at €72,100.
• provides that all claims in respect of election expenses must be lodged with the Mayoral election agent or candidate not later than 45 days after polling day.
• provides for arrangements to deal with disputed claims in relation to payment of Limerick Mayoral election expenses.
• provides that a Mayoral election agent and every person that incurs election expenses shall, within 56 days following polling day, furnish a statement of election expenses to the Standards in Public Office Commission. The statement shall be in a form directed by the Commission, and be accompanied by a statutory declaration and all relevant vouchers.
• provides for the reimbursement of election expenses up to the value of €18,500 to a successful candidate or to an unsuccessful candidate whose number of votes credited exceeds one quarter of the quota.
• provides that statements in relation to donations and election expenses (including any court orders relating to disputed claims) shall be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas by the Standards in Public Office Commission. The statutory declarations accompanying both donation and election expenses statements shall also be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.
• sets out the grounds under which an application for relief can be made before a court by a Mayoral election agent, candidate or other person required to furnish a statement, arising from their non-compliance with the new Part X of the Act.
• provides power to the court to require information from a Mayoral election agent.
• provides that any expenditure exceeding the €72,100 limit shall be deducted from a reimbursement due to the candidate notwithstanding any penalty that may apply on foot of a conviction for an offence under Part X.
• makes provision in respect of the submission of statements of election expenses, and the application of spending limits, in the event of a fresh Limerick Mayoral election arising from the death of a candidate.
• provides for offences and penalties to apply in respect of non-compliance with the donations and election expenses provisions at a Limerick Mayoral election

Polling

The 2024 Act

• provides for necessary minor and consequential amendments to the Litter Pollution Act 1997 in respect of the display of posters at a Mayor of Limerick election and plebiscites on the direct elections of Mayors.
• provides for a consequential amendment to the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2004. Section 35 of the 2004 Act provides for the unlawful possession of a polling information card and makes it an offence for a person to interfere with a polling information card, or present at a polling station such a card which is not addressed to the person.
• extends the provisions relating to the unlawful possession of a polling information card to a Mayor of Limerick election.

The 2006 Act provides for postal voting by prisoners. It enables a prisoner released from prison to have their name deleted from the postal voters list, on notifying the registration authority in writing on or before the second day after the dissolution of the Dáil (general election) or on or before the second day after a polling day order (all other elections and referendums). They can then vote in person at their local polling station in the normal way.

The amendment has the effect of including a Mayor of Limerick election and plebiscites on the direct election of Mayors in this provision.

The 2022 Act amendment  require An Coimisiún Toghcháin to promote awareness of, and encourage the public to vote at, a Mayor of Limerick election. It also provides that An Coimisiún Toghcháin may also, after a Mayor of Limerick election, prepare a report on the administration of the election.

Electoral Provisions

Schedule 2 of the Act provides for an electoral code for the election of the Mayor of Limerick and is largely based on the Local Elections Regulations 1995, the legislative code for local elections. Schedule 2 has 2 parts.

Part 1 has 15 chapters.

Chapter 1 provides for preliminary and general matters.

Chapter 2 provides for the appointment of a returning officer.

Chapter 3 provides for the manner of voting.

Chapter 4 provides for the nomination process.

Chapter 5 provides for agents of candidates.

Chapter 6    provides for procedures in the event of the death of a candidate.

Chapter 7 provides for postal voting.

Chapter 8 provides for voting by special voting.

Chapter 9 provides for the arrangements for the poll.

Chapter 10 provides for the poll.

Chapter 11 provides for arrangements for the counting of the votes.

Chapter 12 provides for the rules for the counting of the votes.

Chapter 13 provides for the retention, inspection and disposal of documents.

Chapter 14 provides for electoral offences.

Chapter 15 provides for petitions.

Part 2 provides for the format of the ballot paper.