Local Elections I
LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 2001
Section 24
Right to vote at local elections.
24.—(1) For the purposes of this section and subject to this Part and regulations made under it, every person whose name is on the register of local government electors prepared under Part II of the Electoral Act, 1992, for the time being in force for a local electoral area (in this Act referred to as the “register of electors”) is entitled to vote at the poll at a local election in that area.
(2) A person’s name shall be taken to be on the register of electors if it includes a name which, in the opinion of the returning officer or presiding officer, was intended to be the person’s name.
(3) A person who has voted at a local election shall not in any legal proceeding be required to state for whom he or she has voted.
(4) A person who—
(a) is registered in the register of electors for the time being in force for a local electoral area but is not entitled to be so registered, or
(b) is not registered in the register of electors,
shall not vote at the poll at a local election in that area.
(5) Nothing in this section shall be read so as to entitle any person to vote who is not entitled to do so, or as relieving that person from any penalties to which that person may be liable to, for voting.
Section 25
Prohibition of plural voting.
25.—(1) A person shall not vote or apply for a ballot paper—
(a) more than once at an election of the members of a local authority otherwise than under Article 64 of the Local Elections Regulations, 1995,
(b) F42[…]
F43[(c) at an election of the members of more than one local authority held at the same local elections, or]
(d) F42[…]
(e) F44[…]
(2) F44[…]
(3)(a) A person who contravenes subsection (1) is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,500 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.
(b) A person who aids, abets, counsels or procures the commission of an offence under subsection (1) is guilty of an offence and is liable:
(i) on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,500, or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both, or
(ii) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding £10,000 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.
Annotations
Amendments:
F42
Repealed (2.06.2003) by Local Government (No. 2) Act 2003 (17/2003), s. 7(a), commenced on enactment.
F43
Substituted (1.06.2014) by Local Government Reform Act 2014 (1/2014), s. 5(1) and sch. 1 part 1 ref. 30, S.I. No. 214 of 2014.
F44
Deleted (1.06.2014) by Local Government Reform Act 2014 (1/2014), s. 5(1) and sch. 1 part 1 refs. 31-32, S.I. No. 214 of 2014.
Editorial Notes:
E191
A fine of £1,500 converted (1.01.1999) to €1,904.60. This translates into a class C fine, not greater than €2,500, as provided (4.01.2011) by Fines Act 2010 (8/2010), ss. 3, 6(2) and table ref. no. 1, S.I. No. 662 of 2010.
E192
A fine of £10,000 converted (1.01.1999) to €12,697.38.
E193
Previous affecting provision: subs. (1)(c) amended (2.06.2003) by Local Government (No. 2) Act 2003 (17/2003), s. 4 and sch., commenced on enactment; substituted as per F-note above.
Section 26
Year of elections to all local authorities.
26.—(1)(a) An election of members of every local authority shall be held in the year 2004 and in every fifth year thereafter.
(b) Nothing in this subsection affects Part 21 of this Act or any order made under that Part.
(2) The poll at local elections shall be held on such day in the month of May or June and shall continue for such period, not being less than 12 hours, between the hours of 7.00 a.m. and 10.30 p.m., as may be fixed by the Minister by order.
F45[(2A) Notwithstanding subsection (2), where the Minister is of the opinion that due to local circumstances concerning an island, and taking account of advice from the returning officer (within the meaning of the Local Elections Regulations 1995) for the election in the local electoral area in which the island is situated, it would be unnecessary or impracticable for the poll to continue on the island for the period fixed by the Minister by order under subsection (2), the Minister may by order, not later than the seventh day before polling day, shorten the period of the poll on the island.
(2B) A poll the subject of an order under subsection (2A) shall continue on the island for not less than 4 hours.
(2C) In subsection (2A), “local circumstances” includes:
(a) the number of local government electors on the island;
(b) the distance between a polling station on the island and the place appointed for the counting of votes under article 74(2) of the Local Elections Regulations 1995;
(c) advance forecasts of stress of weather;
(d) foreseen transport difficulties.]
(3) An order under this section shall be published in the Iris Oifigiúil as soon as may be after it is made.
Annotations
Amendments:
F45
Inserted (13.10.2022) by Electoral Reform Act 2022 (30/2022), s. 204, S.I. No. 512 of 2022, art. 2(e).
Modifications (not altering text):
C17
Application of section restricted (27.01.2014) by Local Government Reform Act 2014 (1/2014), s. 28(4), commenced as per s. 28(5).
Elections to local authorities in 2014
28. …
(4) Nothing in section 26 of the Principal Act shall be read as enabling the holding of an election for members of—
(a) a town council, or
(b) a local authority that is to be dissolved on the 2014 establishment day,
but this subsection is without prejudice to filling, in accordance with section 19 of the Principal Act, a casual vacancy that occurs before the transfer date or the 2014 establishment day, as appropriate.
(5) This section has effect upon the passing of this Act.
Section 26A
F46[
Advance polling
26A.—(1) Notwithstanding section 26, the Minister may, in the public interest and where it is necessary to do so having regard to the immediate, exceptional and serious risk posed to human life and public health by a pandemic or by Covid-19 and with the consent of An Coimisiún Toghcháin, make an order providing that, in addition to the poll provided for under section 26—
(a) in one or more local authorities, an advance poll may be taken on the day before the day appointed by the Minister under section 26, and
(b) a poll referred to in paragraph (a) shall continue for such period, not being less than twelve hours, between the hours of 7 a.m. and 10.30 p.m.
(2) An order under this section shall be published in Iris Oifigiúil as soon as may be after it is made.
(3) In this section —
“Covid-19” means a disease caused by infection with the virus SARS-CoV-2 and specified as an infectious disease in accordance with Regulation 6 of, and the Schedule to, the Infectious Diseases Regulations 1981 ( S.I. No. 390 of 1981 ) or any variant of the disease so specified as an infectious disease in those Regulations;
“pandemic” means an outbreak of disease —
(a) occurring worldwide or over a very wide area, crossing international boundaries and affecting a large number of people, and
(b) which has been declared by the World Health Organisation to be a pandemic.]
Annotations
Amendments:
F46
Inserted (13.10.2022) by Electoral Reform Act 2022 (30/2022), s. 177, S.I. No. 512 of 2022, art. 2(e).
Section 27
Conduct of elections.
27.—(1)(a) Local elections shall be held in accordance with regulations made by the Minister under this section.
(b) If an election is contested, the poll shall be taken according to the system of proportional representation, each local government elector having one transferable vote.
(c) In this subsection “transferable vote” has the meaning given to it by section 37 of the Electoral Act, 1992.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), regulations under this section may in particular include provision for all or any of the following matters in relation to local elections:
(a) nominations;
(b) deposits by candidates;
(c) deaths of candidates;
(d) duties of returning officers;
(e) staff of returning officers;
(f) taking of polls and counting of votes;
(g) use, free of charge, of schools and public rooms;
(h) arrangements for postal voting;
(i) arrangements for special voting;
(j) voting by persons in the employment of returning officers;
(k) voting by physically ill or physically disabled local government electors;
(l) polling on islands;
(m) issue of polling information cards;
(n) maintenance of secrecy of voting;
(o) removal of persons misconducting themselves in polling stations;
(p) procedure in cases of disorder or obstruction;
(q) interference with ballot boxes or ballot papers;
F47[(r) election of the same person in more than one local electoral area or to more than one local authority;]
(s) casual vacancies that occur in the circumstances specified in paragraph (r), or occuring in other specified circumstances related to local elections;
(t) the manner in which the costs of local elections are to be paid by local authorities;
(u) provisions corresponding to sections 60, 105, 134 to 154, 156 to 160 and 163 of the Electoral Act, 1992, with such modifications as appear to the Minister to be appropriate.
(3) Where a provision of regulations under this section corresponds to a provision of the Electoral Act, 1992, which declares a matter to be an electoral offence, the regulations may provide for a corresponding offence in relation to local elections and lay down a penalty for it which does not exceed the relevant penalty specified in section 157 of that Act.
(4) Regulations made under section 22 of the Local Government Act, 1994, and in force at the commencement of this provision shall continue in force and have effect as if made under this section and may be amended or revoked accordingly.
(5) Where regulations under this section are proposed to be made, a draft of them shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and the regulations shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by each House.
(6) No local election is invalid by reason of non-compliance with any regulations under this section, or any mistake in the use of forms provided for or by any such regulations, if it appears to the court before which the matter is raised:
(a) that the election was conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the regulations under this section taken as a whole, and
(b) that the non-compliance or mistake did not materially affect the result of the election.
(7) Regulations under this section apply to a new election under Part 21.
(8) Where regulations under this section provide for the issue of polling information cards by a local authority, a decision to issue them is a reserved function.
Annotations
Amendments:
F47
Substituted (1.06.2014) by Local Government Reform Act 2014 (1/2014), s. 5(1) and sch. 1 part 1 ref. 33, S.I. No. 214 of 2014.
Section 28
Temporary arrangements with respect to certain polling districts and register of electors.
28.—F48[(1) In this section the “chief executive” means—
(a) in relation to any part of a polling district situated in a city, the chief executive for the city,
(b) in relation to any part of a polling district situated in a county, the chief executive for the county,
(c) in relation to any part of a polling district situated in a city and county, the chief executive for the city and county.]
(2) This section applies where after—
F48[(a) the alteration of the boundary of a local authority, or]
(b) the making of an order under section 23—
F48[(i) dividing a county, city or city and county into local electoral areas, or]
(ii) amending or modifying any division made by such an order,
a polling district existing immediately before the alteration or revision or amendment or modification of such division, as the case may be, is not wholly situated within the area of a local authority or of a local electoral area, as the case may be.
(3) Where subsection (2) applies, the F48[chief executive] of the relevant local authority shall, for each part of the polling district situated within the area of the local authority—
(a) join it or parts of it with any adjoining polling district or districts within that area, or
(b) constitute it as a polling district and appoint a polling place for it.
(4) An arrangement made under subsection (3) has effect until, and only until, the first scheme under section 28 of the Electoral Act, 1992, in relation to the F48[county, city or city and county] in which the part concerned of the polling district is situated comes into operation after the making of the arrangement.
(5) An arrangement made under subsection (3) shall, as soon as practicable, be notified to the Minister by the F48[chief executive].
(6) In respect of a part of a polling district referred to in subsection (3), the F48[chief executive] shall make such alterations in relation to the part of the register of electors in force as may be necessary to secure that the part of the register concerned shall be in conformity with the arrangement made under that subsection and may conveniently be used for the purposes of taking a poll.
Annotations
Amendments:
F48
Substituted (1.06.2014) by Local Government Reform Act 2014 (1/2014), s. 5(1) and sch. 1 part 1 refs. 34-40, S.I. No. 214 of 2014.
Section 29
Consequential appointments to certain other bodies.
29.—(1) The year 2004, and every year after 2004 which is a year in which local elections are held, is an election year for the purposes of the Harbours Act, 1946.
(2) F49[…]
(3)(a) The appointments made under section 10 of the School Attendance Act, 1926, which first occur after the commencement of this subsection shall be made in the year 2004 and shall be regarded as quinquennial appointments.
(b) Nothing in paragraph (a) operates to prejudice the power of any person, conferred by or under section 10 of the School Attendance Act, 1926, to appoint persons to fill casual vacancies among the membership of a school attendance committee.
Annotations
Amendments:
F49
Repealed (1.07.2013) by Education and Training Boards Act 2013 (11/2013), s. 4 and sch. 1, part 1 item 14, S.I. No. 211 of 2013.
Section 30
Savers (Part 4).
30.—F50[…]
Annotations
Amendments:
F50
Deleted (1.06.2014) by Local Government Reform Act 2014 (1/2014), s. 5(1) and sch. 1 part 1 ref. 41, S.I. No. 214 of 2014.