No. 42/1947:

SEANAD ELECTORAL (PANEL MEMBERS) ACT, 1947

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

PART I PRELIMINARY AND GENERAL

1 Short title.

2 Definitions.

3 The panels.

4 The Seanad returning officer.

5 Regulations.

6 Expenses.

7 Repeals.

PART II THE REGISTER OF NOMINATING BODIES

8 Establishment and maintenance of register of nominating bodies.

9 Applications for registration in register of nominating bodies.

10 Publication of notice of the preparation of register of nominating bodies.

11 Preparation of register of nominating bodies.

12 Appeal Board.

13 Appeal to the appeal board in connection with preparation of register of nominating bodi

14 Decision of appeals in connection with preparation of register of nominating bodies.

15 Completion and publication of register of nominating bodies.

16 Annual revision of register of nominating bodies.

17 Appeals to appeal board in connection with annual revision.

18 Decision of appeals in connection with an annual revision.

19 Completion of annual revision.

20 Fee on appeal to appeal board.

PART III THE NOMINATION COMMITTEES

21 Formation and maintenance of nomination committees.

22 Appointment of members of nominating committee.

23 Tenure of office of member of nomination committee.

PART IV SEANAD GENERAL ELECTION

CHAPTER I Seanad General Election Order

24 Seanad general election order.

CHAPTER II Formation of the Panels

25 Nomination to panels by members of Oireachtas.

26 Proposals for nominations to panel by registered nominating bodies.

27 Method of proposal for nomination by nominating body.

28 Preparation of nominating bodies lists.

29 Method of nomination by members of Oireachtas.

30 Preparation of provisional Oireachtas sub-panels.

31 Publication and inspection of proposal for nomination papers and nomination papers.

32 Nomination committee (general election) meeting.

33 Electoral roll for nomination committee (general election) meeting.

34 Procedure at a nomination committee (general election) meeting.

35 Preparation of provisional nominating bodies sub-panels.

36 The completion of the panels.

37 Nominations by the Taoiseach to complete provisional sub-panels.

38 The judicial referee at completion of panels.

39 Questions which may be raised at completion of panels.

40 Persons permitted to attend completion of panels.

41 Continuity of proceedings at completion of panels.

42 Death or disqualification of a candidate.

43 Preparation and publication of the panels.

CHAPTER III The Poll

44 The electorate.

45 The electoral roll for Seanad general election.

46 Issue of copy of panels.

47 The ballot papers for Seanad general election.

48 Method of marking votes on ballot paper at Seanad general election.

49 Sending of ballot papers to electors at Seanad general election.

50 Issue of ballot Papers.

51 Method of voting at Seanad general election.

52 Allocation of members amongst the panels.

53 Ascertainment of result of Seanad general election.

54 Election petitions in relation to Seanad general elections.

PART V SEANAD BYE-ELECTION

CHAPTER I Notice of Casual Vacancy and Seanad Bye-election Order

55 Notice of casual vacancy.

56 Seanad bye-election order.

57 Effect of a dissolution of Dáil Éireann.

58 Provision applicable where more then one casual vacancy.

CHAPTER II Nominating Bodies Sub-panel Casual Vacancies

59 Obligation to hold nomination committee (bye-election) meeting.

60 Electoral roll for nomination committee (bye-election) meeting.

61 Procedure at nomination committee (bye-election) meeting.

62 The poll at a nomination committee (bye-election) meeting.

63 Certificate of provisional election.

64 The ruling upon nomination for nominating bodies sub-panel casual vacancy.

65 Procedure on failure to obtain nomination.

CHAPTER III Oireachtas Sub-panel Casual Vacancies

66 Obligation to hold election to fill Oireachtas sub-panel casual vacancy.

67 Nomination of candidates for Oireachtas sub-panel casual vacancy.

68 The ruling upon nomination for Oireachtas sub-panel casual vacancy.

69 Electoral roll for Oireachtas sub-panel casual vacancy.

70 Ballot papers for Oireachtas sub-panel casual vacancy.

71 Method of marking votes on ballot paper for Oireachtas sub-panel casual vacancy.

72 Sending of ballot papers to electors.

73 Method of voting for Oireachtas sub-panel casual vacancy,.

74 Ascertainment of the result of election for Oireachtas sub-panel casual vacancy.

75 Election petitions in relation to elections for Oireachtas sub-panel casual vacancies.

CHAPTER IV General Provisions in respect of every ruling upon nomination under Chapter III

76 The judicial referee at ruling upon nomination.

77 Questions which may be raised at ruling upon nomination.

78 Persons permitted to attend ruling upon nomination.

79 Continuity of proceedings at ruling upon nomination.

PART VI MISCELLANEOUS

80 Resignation of membership of Seanad Eireann.

81 Election as university member and as panel member.

82 Preservation of the secrecy the voting.

83 Non-compliance with rules.

84 Postal services.

85 Transitory provisions.

FIRST SCHEDULE

SECOND SCHEDULE

THIRD SCHEDULE

AN ACT TO REGULATE ELECTIONS OF THE MEMBERS OF SEANAD EIREANN WHO ARE REQUIRED TO BE ELECTED FROM PANELS OF CANDIDATES AND ELECTIONS TO FILL CASUAL VACANCIES OCCURRING AMONGST THOSE MEMBERS AND TO PROVIDE FOR MATTERS INCIDENTAL TO OR CONNECTED WITH SUCH ELECTIONS.

[19th December, 1947.]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:—

PART I PRELIMINARY AND GENERAL

1.—This Act way be cited as the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act, 1947 .

2.—In this Act—

the expression "the administrative panel" has the meaning assigned to it in section 3;

the expression "the agricultural panel" has the meaning assigned to it in section 3;

the expression "annual revision" has the meaning assigned to it in section 16;

the expression "the appeal board" has the meaning assigned to it in section 12;

the expression "casual vacancy" means a vacancy in the membership of Seanad Eireann occasioned by the death, resignation or disqualification, of a member of Seanad Eireann who was elected at the next preceding Seanad general election or was elected at a Seanad bye-election since the next preceding Seanad general election;

the expression "certificate of provisional election" has the meaning assigned to it in section 63;

the expression "close of the poll" has (as may be appropriate) the meaning assigned to it in section 24 or the meaning assigned to it in section 56;

the expression "the completion of the panels" has the meaning assigned to it in section 36;

the expression "the cultural and educational panel" has the meaning assigned to it in section 3;

the expression "Dáil election" means a general election of members of Dáil Eireann held in consequence of a dissolution of Dáil Eireann;

the expression "the expiration of the time for general panel proposed nominations" has the meaning assigned to it in section 24;

the expression "the expiration of the time for Oireachtas panel nominations" has the meaning assigned to it in section 24;

the expression "the industrial and commercial panel" has the meaning assigned to it in section 3;

the expression "the labour panel" has the meaning assigned to it in section 3;

the expression "the list of candidates" has the meaning assigned to it in section 68;

the expression "member of the Oireachtas" means a member of Dáil Eireann or a member of Seanad Eireann;

the expression "the Minister" means the Minister for Local Government;

the expression "nominating bodies" has the meaning assigned to it in section 8;

the expression "nominating bodies list" has the meaning assigned to it in section 28;

the expression "nominating bodies sub-panel" has the meaning assigned to it in section 43;

the expression "nominating bodies sub-panel casual vacancy" means a casual vacancy occasioned by the death, resignation or disqualification of a member of Seanad Eireann who was elected at the next preceding Seanad general election from a nominating bodies sub-panel or who was elected at a Seanad bye-election to fill (whether directly or indirectly) the place of a member who was so elected at such Seanad general election;

the expression "nomination committee" has the meaning assigned to it in section 21;

the expression "nomination committee (bye-election) meeting" has the meaning assigned to it in section 59:

the expression "nomination committee (general election) meeting" has the meaning assigned to it in section 32;

the expression "notice of a casual vacancy" has the meaning assigned to it in section 55.

the expression "Oireachtas sub-panel" has the meaning assigned to it in section 43;

the expression "Oireachtas sub-panel casual vacancy" means a casual vacancy occasioned by the death, resignation or disqualification of a member of Seanad Eireann who was elected at the next preceding Seanad general election from an Oireachtas sub-panel or who was elected at a Seanad bye-election to fill (whether directly or indirectly) the place of a member who was so elected at such Seanad general election;

the word "panel" has the meaning assigned to it in section 3:

the word "prescribed" means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this Act;

the expression "provisional nominating bodies sub-panel" has the meaning assigned to it in section 35;

the expression "the register of nominating bodies" has the meaning assigned to it in section 8;

the expression "the ruling upon nomination" has (as may be appropriate) the meaning assigned to it in section 64 or the meaning assigned to it in section 68;

the expression "Seanad bye-election" means an election to fill a casual vacancy;

the expression "Seanad bye-election order" has the meaning assigned to it in section 56;

the expression "Seanad general election" means so much of a general election of members of Seanad Eireann held in pursuance of Article 18 of the Constitution as relates to the election of those members who are required by that Article to be elected from panels:

the expression "Seanad general election order" has the meaning assigned to it in section 24;

the expression "Seanad returning officer" has the meaning assigned to it in section 4;

the word "sub-panel" has the meaning assigned to it in section 43.

3.—(1) In this Act—

the word "panel" when used without qualification means a panel of candidates formed in pursuance of subsection 10 of section 7 of Article 18 of the Constitution;

the expression "the cultural and educational panel" means the panel required by the said subsection 10 to contain the names of persons having knowledge and practical experience of the following interests and services, namely, the national language and culture, literature, art, education and such professional interests as may be defined by law for the purpose of this panel;

the expression "the agricultural panel" means the panel required by the said subsection 10 to contain the names of persons having knowledge and practical experience of the following interests and services, namely, agriculture and allied interests, and fisheries;

the expression "the labour panel" means the panel required by the said subsection 10 to contain the names of persons having knowledge and practical experience of the following interests and services, namely, labour, whether organised or unorganised;

the expression "the industrial and commercial panel" means the panel required by the said subsection 10 to contain the names of persons having knowledge and practical experience of the following interests and services, namely, industry and commerce, including banking, finance, accountancy, engineering, and architecture;

the expression "the administrative panel" means the panel required by the said subsection 10 to contain the names of persons having knowledge and practical experience of the following interests and services, namely, public administration and social services, including voluntary social activities.

(2) The professional interests for the purposes of the cultural and educational panel are hereby defined as—

( a ) law, and

( b ) medicine, including surgery, dentistry, veterinary medicine, and pharmaceutical chemistry.

4.—(1) The person who for the time being holds the office of Clerk of Seanad Eireann shall be the Seanad returning officer for the purposes of this Act.

(2) It shall be the duty of the Seanad returning officer to conduct every Seanad general election and every Seanad bye-election, to count the votes cast thereat, to ascertain and declare the result thereof in accordance with this Act, and to do such other things in respect of every such election as he is required by this Act to do.

(3) The Minister for Finance shall pay to the Seanad returning officer the amount of his reasonable charges, not exceeding such amount as may be sanctioned by that Minister, in respect of the performance by the Seanad returning officer of his duties under this Act out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof.

(4) If and so long as the office of Clerk of Seanad Eireann is vacant or the holder of that office is unable through illness, absence or other cause to fulfil his duties, the Clerk-Assistant of Seanad Eireann shall act as Seanad returning officer and references in this Act to the Seanad returning officer shall have effect accordingly.

5.—The Minister may make regulations prescribing any matter or thing referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed.

6.—The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

7.—The Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act, 1937 (No. 43 of 1937), and the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) (Bye Elections) Act, 1940 (No. 20 of 1940), are hereby repealed.

PART II THE REGISTER OF NOMINATING BODIES

8.—(1) A register (in this Act referred to as the register of nominating bodies) of bodies (in this Act referred to as nominating bodies) entitled to nominate persons to the panels of candidates for the purpose of every Seanad general election shall be established and maintained in accordance with this Act.

(2) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to the register of nominating bodies:

( a ) the register shall be in such form as the Seanad returning officer thinks proper;

( b ) a body shall not be eligible to be registered in the register in respect of any particular panel unless either—

(I) (i) its objects primarily relate to or are connected with the interests and services mentioned in subsection 10 of section 7 of Article 18 of the Constitution in respect of that particular panel, and

(ii) its activities are concerned mainly with such interests and services, or

(II) its members are representative of persons who have knowledge and practical experience of such interests and services;

( c ) a body which is formed or carried on wholly or substantially for profit or which carries on, as its sole or principal function, any trade or business for profit shall not be eligible for registration in the register;

( d ) the Seanad returning officer may refuse to register any body (not being an excepted body) in the register unless—

(I) its organisation and direction are governed by articles of association, rules or other regulations which—

(i) provide for an annual general meeting to which all members are invited by a notice forwarding an agenda including the following items, that is to say, minutes of preceding meeting, presentation of annual report, consideration of statement of accounts as certified by the auditor, election of executive committee, election of auditors,

(ii) make adequate provision for the carrying on of the business of the body by an executive committee, and

(iii) provide for the audit and certification of accounts by a public auditor or other qualified person, and

(II) its average annual revenue from subscriptions during the five years immediately preceding the application for registration has been, in the case of a charitable body, not less than one thousand pounds or, in any other case, not less than two hundred and fifty pounds,

but subject to the proviso that the requirements set out in this paragraph as to election of auditors, provision for audit and annual revenue shall not apply in the case of such bodies engaged in the promotion of scientific or general knowledge as in the opinion of the Seanad returning officer are of national importance;

( e ) a body which is composed wholly or mainly of persons who are in the employment of the State or of persons who are in the employment of local authorities and the objects of which include the advancement or protection of the interests of such persons in relation to) their said employment shall not be eligible for registration in the register;

( f ) every body which is registered in the register shall be so registered in respect of one, and only one, panel;

( g ) except as otherwise provided by this subsection, a body shall not be registered in the register save in pursuance of an application in that behalf made by such body in accordance with this Act;

( h ) the Irish County Councils General Council and the Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland shall be registered in the register in respect of the administrative panel without application, and no other body shall be registered in the register in respect of that panel unless its objects and activities consist, wholly or substantially, of voluntary social services of a charitable or eleemosynary character.

(3) In paragraph (d ) of subsection (2) of this section the expression "excepted body" means a body which is—

( a ) a body established under an Act of the Oireachtas for any of the following purposes:

(i) the regulation or control of professional qualifications or conduct.

(ii) the provision or improvement of cultural or educational facilities; or

( b ) a cultural, educational or professional organisation in receipt of a grant voted specifically for it by the Oireachtas.

(4) Each of the following bodies, and no other body, shall be a local authority for the purposes of this section:

( a ) the council of a county, the corporation of a county or other borough, the council of an urban district, the commissioners of a town or a public assistance authority,

( b ) a committee or joint committee of or appointed by any one or more of the bodies mentioned in paragraph (a) of this subsection.

9.—(1) Any body which desires to be registered in the register of nominating bodies in respect of any particular panel and claims to be eligible for registration in that register in respect of that panel may apply for that purpose to the Seanad returning officer in accordance with this section.

(2) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to applications for registration in the register of nominating bodies at the preparation of that register:

( a ) an application shall be made in writing on an application paper in the prescribed form provided by the Seanad returning officer;

( b ) the Seanad returning officer shall furnish free of charge on request to any body which proposes to apply for registration an application paper for that purpose;

( c ) an application shall be delivered or sent by post to the Seanad returning officer at his office on or before the date specified in that behalf in the notice published under section 10 of this Act and any application which is received at that office after that date shall not be entertained or considered by the Seanad returning officer;

( d ) an application shall state the panel in respect of which the applicant desires to be registered and the grounds on which the applicant claims to be eligible to be registered

( e ) an application shall also state all such things in relation to the applicant as are indicated in that behalf in the prescribed form of application paper.

10.—As soon as practicable after the passing of this Act, the Seanad returning officer shall publish, in every morning daily newspaper published in the State and in such other (if any) daily newspapers as, with the sanction of the Minister, he thinks proper, a notice in the prescribed form giving public notice that the register of nominating bodies is being prepared, and giving such information (including the latest date for receipt of applications for registration) and instructions in relation to applications for registration as the Minister thinks proper.

11.—(1) As soon as practicable after the day prescribed for this section, and in any event not later than fourteen days thereafter, the Seanad returning officer shall prepare the register of nominating bodies and for that purpose—

( a ) shall examine all applications for registration duly received by him,

( b ) shall disallow every application which appears to him top be irregular in form and every application as respects which the applicant fails to satisfy him that the applicant is eligible for registration in respect of the panel to which the application relates,

( c ) may disallow any applications which he is authorised by the subsequent provisions of this section to disallow, and

( d ) shall allow all such applications as he does not disallow in pursuance of the foregoing provisions of this subsection.

(2) The Seanad returning officer may require from any applicant for registration in the register of nominating bodies all such information relevant to the registration of the applicant as he reasonably requires for the determination by him of the allowance or disallowance of the application, and the Seanad returning officer may disallow the application of any applicant which fails or refuses to give any information required of it under this section.

(3) It shall be lawful for the Seanad returning officer to disallow an application for registration in the register of nominating bodies made by any body which is a branch of or affiliated or subsidiary to a body which is already registered in the register or whose application for such registration he has allowed.

(4) Subsections (2) and (3) of this section shall have effect in relation to every annual revision of the register of nominating bodies as well as in relation to the first preparation of that register.

(5) Not later than fourteen days after the day prescribed for this section, the Seanad returning officer shall send by post to every body which applied for registration in the register of nominating bodies (whether its application has been Allowed or disallowed) a copy of the register as prepared by the Seanad returning officer under this section.

(6) Where the Seanad returning officer has disallowed an application for registration in the register of nominating bodies, he shall, on the request of the body which made the application, finish to the body a statement of his reasons for the disallowance.

(7) Where the Seanad returning officer has disallowed under this section an application for registration in the register of nominating bodies because the applicant has failed to satisfy him that the applicant is eligible for registration in respect of the panel to which the application relates, a statement to that effect by the Seanad returning officer shall, for the purposes of subsection (6) of this section, be a sufficient statement of the reasons for the disallowance.

(8) The allowance or disallowance by the Seanad returning officer of any application for registration in the register of nominating bodies shall be final and conclusive, subject only to such appeal as is provided for by this Act.

12.—(1) There shall be a board (in this Act referred to as the appeal board) to hear appeals from decisions of the Seanad returning officer under this Part of this Act.

(2) The appeal board shall consist of five members, namely:—

( a ) a chairman, who shall be a judge of the Supreme Court or the High Court nominated by the Chief Justice,

( b ) the Chairman of Dáil Eireann,

( c ) the Deputy-Chairman of Dáil Eireann,

( d ) the Chairman of Seanad Eireann,

( e ) the Deputy-Chairman of Seanad Eireann.

(3) The quorum for a meeting of the appeal board shall be three.

(4) The appeal board may act notwithstanding any vacancy thereon.

(5) Subject to the express provisions of this Act, the appeal board shall regulate its own procedure.

13.—(1) Any applicant for registration in the register of nominating bodies whose application for registration has been disallowed by the Seanad returning officer on the preparation of the register may appeal in accordance with this section to the appeal board against the disallowance.

(2) Any applicant for registration in the register of nominating bodies on the preparation thereof in respect of any particular panel (whether its application for registration has been allowed or has been disallowed by the Seanad returning officer) may appeal in accordance with this section to the appeal board against the allowance by the Seanad returning officer of the application of any other applicant for such registration in respect of the same panel.

(3) An appeal under this section to the appeal board shall be made in writing and shall state the grounds on which the appeal is made and shall be delivered or sent by post to the Clerk of Dáil Eireann on or before the day prescribed for this section, and any such appeal which is received by the Clerk of Dáil Eireann after that day shall not be entertained or considered by the appeal board.

(4) An appeal under this section shall be open to inspection at all convenient times by the Seanad returning officer.

14.—(1) The appeal board shall consider every appeal duly made under section 13 of this Act and shall, in respect of each such appeal, either reverse the decision of the Seanad returning officer which is the subject of the appeal or disallow the appeal.

(2) The appeal board shall, when considering an appeal made under section 13 of this Act, consider—

( a ) the grounds for the appeal stated pursuant to subsection (3) of that section, and no other grounds, and

( b ) such information (if any) as was made available to the Seanad returning officer, and no other information.

(3) A decision of the Seanad returning officer shall not be reversed under this section by the appeal board unless a majority of the members present are in favour of the reversal.

(4) The Seanad returning officer shall give to the appeal board such information and assistance in relation to every appeal considered pursuant to this section as the Board may reasonably require of him.

(5) The decision of the appeal board on any appeal Considered pursuant to this section shall be final and conclusive.

15.—(1) If no appeal under section 13 of this Act is duly made to the appeal board, the Clerk of Dáil Eireann shall, on the day prescribed for this section inform the Seanad returning officer of that fact and the Seanad returning officer shall thereupon sign and publish in the Iris Oifigiúil the register of nominating bodies prepared by him under the foregoing provisions of this Act.

(2) It any appeal is duly made under section 13 of this Act to the appeal board, the board shall communicate to the Seanad returning officer their decision (if any) on every such appeal and the Seanad returning officer shall thereupon make such (if any) amendment in the register of nominating bodies prepared by him under the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act as may be necessary to give effect to such decision and, when all such appeals have been decided and the decisions (if any) thereon have been communicated to and dealt with by the Seanad returning officer, the Seanad returning officer shall sign the register of nominating bodies as so prepared and amended (if at all) by him as aforesaid and shall publish it in the Iris Oifigiúil as soon as conveniently may be.

(3) The register of nominating bodies as published in the Iris Oifigiúil in pursuance of this section shall be final and conclusive and shall not be open to review by any court and shall be in force for the first Seanad general election held after it is first published and every subsequent Seanad general election, subject only to such annual revision as is provided by this Act.

16.—(1) The Seanad returning officer shall, on or after the 1st but not later than the 15th day of January in the year after the year of the preparation of the register of nominating bodies and in every subsequent year, publish in every morning daily newspaper published in the State and in such other (if any) daily newspapers as, with the sanction of the Minister, he thinks proper a notice in the prescribed form giving public notice that, on the 15th day of February next following or, if that day is a Sunday, the 16th day of February next following, the Seanad returning officer will proceed to revise the register of nominating bodies, and giving such information and instructions in relation to applications for insertion, deletion, or amendment of entries in that register as the Minister thinks proper.

(2) Any body not registered in the register of nominating bodies, which desires to be registered in respect of any particular panel in that register and claims to be eligible for such registration, and any body registered in that register which desires to be removed therefrom, or desires that the entry in respect of it in that register should be amended in any way, may make application in the prescribed form to the Seanad returning officer during the period beginning on the 15th day of January and ending on the 15th day of February in the year after the year of the preparation of the register of nominating bodies or in any subsequent year, for such registration, deletion, or amendment, as the case may be.

(3) On the 15th day of February or, if that day is a Sunday, on the 16th day of February in the year after the year of the preparation of the register of nominating bodies and in every subsequent year the Seanad returning officer shall revise (in this Act referred to as an annual revision) the register of nominating bodies by:—

( a ) registering in the register all bodies which have duly applied under this section for registration at such annual revision and whose application he does not disallow,

( b ) deleting from the register the registration of every body which appears to him to have ceased to exist or to have ceased to be eligible for registration or the deletion of which from the register appears to him to be necessary and proper in consequence of the allowance of the application of another body for registration, and

( c ) making all such amendments in the register as appear to him, by virtue of applications under this section or otherwise to be requisite or proper.

(4) The Seanad returning officer shall disallow every application under this section which appears to him to be irregular in form and every application under this section for registration in respect of a panel as respects which the applicant fails to satisfy him that the applicant is eligible for such registration.

(5) The Seanad returning officer may make such inquiries as he thinks proper for the purpose of any annual revision of the register of nominating bodies and may, at any annual revision, make all such deletions from and amendments of the register of nominating bodies as appear to him, in consequence of such inquiries, to be requisite or proper, but the Seanad returning officer shall not make any such deletion or amendment without giving notice thereof to the body affected thereby or without giving such body a reasonable opportunity of making representations in regard thereto.

(6) Every allowance or disallowance by the Seanad returning officer of any application under this section for registration in, deletion from, or amendment of the register of nominating bodies, and every deletion from or amendment of that register made by the Seanad returning officer at an annual revision otherwise than on an application under this section, shall be final and conclusive, subject only to such appeal as is provided for by this Act.

17.—(1) Not later than the 1st day of March in the year after the year of the preparation of the register of nominating bodies and in every subsequent year, the Seanad returning officer shall—

( a ) inform every body which applied for registration in, deletion from, or amendment of the register of nominating bodies at the annual revision in that year whether he allowed or disallowed the application and, in the case of disallowance, his reasons therefor, and

( b ) communicate to every body affected by a deletion from or amendment of the register of nominating bodies made by him at the annual revision in that year otherwise than on an application by such body the particulars of such deletion or amendment and his reasons therefor.

(2) Any of the following persons may appeal to the appeal board against such of the decisions of the Seanad returning officer at an annual revision as are hereinafter specified, that is to say:—

( a ) in the case of a disallowance of an application, the body by which the application was made,

( b ) in the case of an allowance of an application for registration, any nominating body registered in the register of nominating bodies, and any body which applied at the annual revision for registration in that register, whether the application was allowed or disallowed,

( c ) in the case of a deletion from or amendment of the register of nominating bodies made by the Seanad returning officer otherwise than on an application under this Act, the body affected by the deletion or amendment.

(3) An appeal under this section to the appeal board shall be made in writing and shall state the grounds on which the appeal is made and shall be delivered or sent by post to the Clerk of Dáil Eireann on or before the 15th day of March in the year in which the decision appealed against was given.

(4) An appeal under this section shall be open to inspection at all convenient times by the Seanad returning officer.

(5) Where the Seanad returning officer has disallowed under section 16 of this Act an application for registration in respect of a panel because the applicant has failed to satisfy him that the applicant is eligible for such registration, a statement to that effect shall, for the purposes of subsection (1) of this section, be a sufficient statement of the reasons for the disallowance.

(6) Where the Seanad returning officer has deleted under section 16 of this Act the registration of a body on the ground that the body has ceased to be eligible for such registration, a statement to that effect shall, for the purposes of subsection (1) of this section, be a sufficient statement of the grounds for the deletion.

18.—(1) The appeal board shall consider every appeal duly made to it under section 17 of this Act and shall, in respect of each such appeal, either reverse the decision of the Seanad returning officer which is the subject of the appeal or disallow the appeal.

(2) The appeal board shall, when considering an appeal made under section 17 of this Act, consider—

( a ) the grounds for the appeal stated pursuant to subsection (3) of that section, and no other grounds, and

( b ) such information (if any) as was made available to the Seanad returning officer, and no other information.

(3) A decision of the Seanad returning officer shall not be reversed under this section by the appeal board unless a majority of the members present are in favour of the reversal.

(4) The Seanad returning officer shall give to the appeal board such information and assistance in relation to every appeal considered in pursuance of this section as the board may reasonably require of him.

(5) The decision of the appeal board on any appeal considered in pursuance of this section shall be final and conclusive.

19.—(1) Not later than the 20th day of March in the year after the year of the preparation of the register of nominating bodies and in every subsequent year, the Seanad returning officer shall revise the register of nominating bodies in such manner as may be requisite to give effect to all decisions given by him at the annual revision in that year against which no appeal to the board has been made within the time limited in that behalf by this Act, and every revision so made shall come into force on the 21st day of March of the year in which it is made.

(2) The Clerk of Dáil Eireann shall communicate to the Seanad returning officer every decision by the appeal board on an appeal considered pursuant to section 18 of this Act, and the Seanad returning officer shall forthwith make such (if any) revision of the register of nominating bodies as is necessary to give effect to such decision, and every such revision shall come into force on the day after the day on which it is made.

(3) As soon as any annual revision of the register of nominating bodies has been completed in accordance with this Part of this Act, the Seanad returning officer shall sign and publish in the Iris Oifigiúil the register as revised at the annual revision and the register as so published shall be conclusive evidence of the alterations made in the register at the annual revision.

20.—(1) Every body which appeals to the appeal board shall pay to the Clerk of Dáil Eireann a fee of twenty pounds, and the payment of the fee before the expiration of the time limited by this Act for sending or delivering the appeal to the Clerk of Dáil Eireann shall be a condition precedent to the entertainment of the appeal by the appeal board.

(2) Every fee paid to the Clerk of Dáil Eireann in pursuance of this section shall be retained by him until the appeal in respect of which the fee was paid has been decided by the appeal board and—

( a ) if the appeal board reverses the decision of the Seanad returning officer which is the subject of the appeal, the Clerk of Dáil Eireann shall forthwith repay the fee to the appellant by whom it was paid to him, and

( b ) in every other case, the Clerk of Dáil Eireann shall pay the fee into, or dispose of it for the benefit of, the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance directs.

(3) The Public Offices (Fees) Act, 1879, shall not apply in respect of fees payable under this section.

PART III THE NOMINATION COMMITTEES

21.—(1) There shall be formed and maintained in respect of each panel a standing committee to be known and in this Act referred to as the nomination committee for that panel.

(2) A nominating body which is for the time being registered in the register of nominating bodies shall be entitled to appoint five members of the nomination committee for the panel in respect of which such nominating body is so registered.

(3) The Seanad returning officer shall establish as soon as may be after the publication pursuant to section 15 of this Act of the register of nominating bodies, and shall thereafter maintain, a register with respect to each nomination committee stating the members thereof and each such register shall be conclusive evidence of the membership of the committee to which it relates.

(4) A register maintained under subsection (3) of this section of the members of a nomination committee shall state, in respect of every such member, his postal address as stated in his appointment or as subsequently communicated by him under this Act, and every notice required by this Act to be sent by the Seanad returning officer to any such member shall be sent by prepaid post addressed to him at his postal address as so stated.

(5) The quorum of a nomination committee shall be one-fourth of the members thereof or three members (whichever is the greater).

22.—(1) A nominating body which is registered in the register of nominating bodies on the publication of that register pursuant to section 15 of this Act shall, as soon as may be after such publication, appoint five persons to be members of the nomination committee for the panel in respect of which such body is so registered.

(2) A body which becomes, after the publication of the register of nominating bodies pursuant to section 15 of this Act, registered as a nominating body in that register shall, as soon as may be after it becomes so registered, appoint five persons to he members of the nomination committee for the panel in respect of which such body is so registered.

(3) Where a member appointed by a nominating body of a nomination committee ceases to be such member by reason of death, being adjudicated a bankrupt or convicted of an indictable offence, or ceasing to be a member of the body, the body shall as soon as conveniently may be appoint a person to fill the vacancy.

(4) An appointment of a member of a nomination committee by a nominating body shall—

( a ) be made in writing, and

( b ) if the nominating body is a body corporate, have the seal of the body affixed thereto in the manner and with the counter-signatures required by the constitution, articles of association, or other regulations of the body or if the nominating body is not a body corporate, be signed in the name of the body by some person having authority to sign in that name, and

( c ) state the name, postal address, and description of the appointee and contain a statement, signed by the appointee, that he assents to the appointment, and

( d ) be sent to the Seanad returning officer by such nominating body, and

( e ) have effect as from the time at which it is received by the Seanad returning officer.

(5) Where the first appointment by a nominating body of members of a nomination committee is made at an annual meeting of the body, the body shall at that meeting appoint the day for its next annual meeting and the day appointed shall be notified to the Seanad returning officer and shall be not more than four hundred days and not less than three hundred and thirty days after the day on which the appointment is made.

(6) Where the first appointment by a nominating body of members of a nomination committee is made at a meeting which is not an annual meeting, the meeting shall be a meeting specially called for the purpose of making such appointment.

(7) The second and any subsequent appointment by a nominating body of members of a nomination committee shall be made at an annual meeting of the body, and the body shall at every such meeting appoint the day for its next annual meeting and the day appointed shall be notified to the Seanad returning officer and shall be not more than four hundred days and not less than three hundred and thirty days after the day on which the appointment is made.

(8) Any member of a nomination committee may at any time inform the Seanad returning officer in writing of a change in his postal address and thereupon the Seanad returning officer shall enter the change of address in the register of the members of the committee.

23.—(1) A member appointed by a nominating body of a nomination committee shall cease to hold office as such member on the happening of any of the following events, and in no other circumstances, that is to say:—

( a ) the expiration of the day before the day of the annual meeting of the body next occurring after his appointment,

( b ) his death,

( c ) his being adjudicated bankrupt or convicted of an indictable offence,

( d ) his ceasing to be a member of the body,

( e ) the body ceasing to be a nominating body registered in the register of nominating bodies in respect of the relevant panel.

(2) A member of a nomination committee ceasing to hold office as such member by reason of the expiration of the day before the day of an annual meeting of the nominating body which appointed him shall be eligible for re-appointment.

PART IV SEANAD GENERAL ELECTION

CHAPTER I Seanad General Election Order

24.—(1) Before every Seanad general election, the Minister shall by order (in this Act referred to as a Seanad general election order) appoint for the purposes of the election:—

( a ) the day and hour (in this Act referred to as the expiration of the time for general panel proposed nominations) on and at which the period during which the Seanad returning officer may receive proposals for nominations to the panels by nominating bodies will expire;

( b ) the day and hour (in this Act referred to as the expiration of the time for Oireachtas panel nominations) on and at which the period during which the Seanad returning officer may receive nominations to the panels by members of the Oireachtas will expire;

( c ) the days on which and the places and hours at which the nominating committee (general election) meetings (so far as they are required to be held) will be held;

( d ) the day on which and the place at which the Seanad returning officer will sit for the completion of the panels;

( e ) the day on which the ballot papers for the election will be issued;

( f ) the day and hour (In this Act referred to as the close of the poll) on and at which the poll at the election will be closed;

( g ) the address of the Seanad returning officer to which nomination papers and other communications may be sent to him.

(2) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to a Seanad general election order:—

( a ) the order shall be made within seven days after the dissolution of Dáil Eireann which occasions the election;

( b ) the day appointed by the order for the expiration of the time for general panel proposed nominations shall not be less than four weeks after such dissolution and, where practicable, shall not be prior to the date fixed for the reassembly of Dáil Eireann after such dissolution;

( c ) the day appointed by the order for the expiration of the time for Oireachtas nominations shall not be less than seven days after the day appointed by the order for the expiration of the time for general panel nominations and, where practicable, shall be subsequent to the date fixed for the reassembly of Dáil Eireann after such dissolution;

( d ) the order shall be published in the Iris Oifigiúil as soon as may be after it is made.

CHAPTER II Formation of the Panels

25.—(1) At a Seanad general election, any person may be nominated in accordance with this Act by not less than four members of the Oireachtas to any of the panels constituted for that election.

(2) A member of the Oireachtas shall not join in the nomination under this section of more than one person at any particular Seanad general election.

26.—(1) At a Seanad general election, a nominating body which is registered in the register of nominating bodies in respect of a particular panel shall be entitled to propose for nomination to the panel such number of persons as is provided in that behalf by this section.

(2) Where one nominating body, and no more, is entitled to propose for nomination to a particular panel, that body shall be, entitled to so propose—

( a ) in the case of the cultural and educational panel-three persons,

( b ) in the case of the agricultural panel or the labour panel-eleven persons,

( c ) in the case of the industrial and commercial panel-nine persons,

( d ) in the case of the administrative panel-five persons.

(3) Where two nominating bodies, and no more, are entitled to propose for nomination to a particular panel, each shall be entitled to propose for nomination to the panel—

( a ) in the case of the cultural and educational panel-two persons,

( b ) in the case of the agricultural panel or the labour panel-six persons,

( c ) in the case of the industrial and commercial panel-five persons,

( d ) in the case of the administrative panel-three persons.

(4) Where three or more nominating bodies are entitled to propose for nomination to a particular panel, each shall be entitled to propose for nomination to the panel—

( a ) if the number obtained by dividing the appropriate number by the number of the nominating bodies is two or less two persons, and

( b ) if the number so obtained is more than two-the number so obtained of persons if it is a whole number or, if it is not a whole number, the next higher whole number of persons.

(5) in subsection (4) of this section, the expression "the appropriate number" means—

( a ) in the case of the cultural and educational panel-ten,

( b ) in the case of the agricultural panel or the labour panel eighteen,

( c ) in the case of the industrial and commercial panel-sixteen,

( d ) in the case of the administrative panel-twelve.

27.—(1) Within ten days after a dissolution of Dáil Eireann, the Seanad returning officer shall send by post to every nominating body registered in the register of nominating bodies a form of proposal for nomination paper and also a notice in the prescribed form informing the body of its right to propose persons for nomination to a specified panel and of the number of persons which it is entitled so to propose and giving to the body such information and instructions in relation to the making of the proposals for nomination as the Minister thinks proper to prescribe.

(2) A proposal for nomination to a panel by a nominating body shall be made in accordance with the following provisions:—

( a ) the proposal shall be made in writing on a proposal for nomination paper in the prescribed form;

( b ) the nominating body shall propose by one and the same proposal for nomination paper all the persons which it is entitled to propose;

( c ) the proposal for nomination paper shall contain the particulars required by the prescribed form of proposal for nomination paper to be stated therein (including a statement of the qualifications of every person thereby proposed for the panel to which he is proposed) and shall be signed by the nominating body;

( d ) where the nominating body is a body corporate, the proposal for nomination paper shall be signed by the body by affixing to such paper the seal of the body in the manner and with the counter signatures required by the constitution, articles of association, or other regulations of the body;

( e ) where the nominating body is not a body corporate, the proposal for nomination paper shall be signed in the name of the body by some person having authority to sign in that name.

(3) In the case of the Irish County Councils' General Council and in the case of the Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland, the persons to be proposed for nomination to the administrative panel by those bodies respectively shall be chosen by the members of the body voting on the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.

(4) A proposal for nomination paper which purports to be sealed with the seal of a body corporate which is a nominating body and to be countersigned shall, until the contrary is proved, be deemed to have been so sealed in the manner and with the counter-signatures required by the constitution, articles of association, or other regulations of the body.

(5) A proposal for nomination paper which purports to be signed in the name of an unincorporated body which is a nominating body shall, until the contrary is proved, be deemed to have been so signed by a person having authority to sign in that name.

(6) Where a nominating body purports to propose for nomination by a proposal for nomination paper either more persons or less persons to a panel than the body is entitled so to propose, the proposal for nomination paper shall be wholly void.

(7) The Seanad returning officer shall furnish free of charge on request to a nominating body such number of forms of proposal for nomination paper (in addition to the form which he is required by subsection (1) of this section to send to the body) as the body reasonably requires.

28.—(1) A proposal for nomination paper by which a person or persons is or are proposed for nomination at a Seanad general election by a nominating body shall be delivered or sent by post to the Seanad returning officer.

(2) Immediately after the expiration of the time for general panel proposal nominations, the Seanad returning officer shall prepare, in respect of each panel, a list (in this Act referred to as a nominating bodies list) in the prescribed form of the persons in respect of whom he has received, before the expiration of the said time, proposals for nominations to such panel by nominating bodies.

(3) If, when the provisions of subsection (2) of this section-have been complied with, the number of persons included in a nominating bodies list does not equal or exceed the appropriate number, the Seanad returning officer shall report to the Taoiseach the deficiency in such list and furnish him with copies of the nominating bodies lists.

(4) Upon receiving a report under subsection (3) of this section, the Taoiseach shall propose for nomination to every panel in respect of which he receives the report such number of persons as will be sufficient to bring the number of persons on the relevant nominating bodies list up to the appropriate number (and no more).

(5) A proposal for nomination made by the Taoiseach under this section shall be made in accordance with the following provisions:—

( a ) the proposal for nomination shall be made in writing on a proposal for nomination paper in the prescribed form;

( b ) the proposal for nomination shall be made by a separate proposal for nomination paper;

( c ) the proposal for nomination paper shall state the sub-panel in respect of which the proposal is made and shall also contain the particulars required by the said prescribed form of proposal for nomination paper (including a statement of the qualifications of the person thereby proposed for the panel to which he is so proposed) and shall be signed by the Taoiseach;

( d ) the proposal for nomination paper shall be delivered or sent to the Seanad returning officer and shall be so sent or delivered that it is received by him within ten days after the expiration of the time for general panel proposed nominations.

(6) On receipt of proposals for nominations under subsection (4) of this section in respect of a panel, the Seanad returning officer shall prepare, in respect of the panel, a list (in this Act also referred to as a nominating bodies list) in the prescribed form of the persons in respect of whom he has received proposals for nominations to such panel by nominating bodies or the Taoiseach and such list shall have effect in substitution for the previous nominating bodies list in respect of the panel.

(7) In preparing the nominating bodies lists, the Seanad returning officer shall not—

( a ) include the name of a person whose proposal for nomination has been received after the expiration of the time for general panel proposed nominations,

( b ) include the name of a person whose proposal for nomination is declared by this Act to be wholly void, or

( c ) include the name of a person more than once in the same list.

(8) In this section, the expression "the appropriate number" means—

( a ) if one nominating body, and no more, or two nominating bodies, and no more, is or are entitled to propose for nomination to the relevant panel—

(i) in case such panel is the cultural and educational panel-six,

(ii) in case such panel is the agricultural or the labour panel-fourteen,

(iii) in case such panel is the industrial and commercial panel-twelve,

(iv) in case such panel is the administrative panel-eight,

( b ) if three or more nominating bodies are entitled to propose for nomination to the relevant panel—

(i) in case such panel is the cultural and educational panel-ten,

(ii) in case such panel is the agricultural or the labour panel-eighteen,

(iii) in case such panel is the industrial and commercial panel-sixteen,

(iv) in case such panel is the administrative panel-twelve.

29.—(1) A nomination at a Seanad general election by members of the Oireachtas shall be made in accordance with the following provisions:

( a ) the nomination shall be made in writing on a nomination paper in the prescribed form;

( b ) the nomination paper shall contain the particulars required by the prescribed form of nomination paper to be stated therein, including a statement of the qualifications of the person thereby nominated for the panel to which he is so nominated;

( c ) the nomination paper shall be signed by each of the members of the Oireachtas making a nomination thereby;

( d ) the nomination paper shall be delivered or sent by post to the Seanad returning officer.

(2) If a member of the Oireachtas signs as a nominator two or more nomination papers, both or all of the nomination papers shall be wholly void.

30.—(1) Immediately after the expiration of the time for Oireachtas panel nominations, the Seanad returning officer shall prepare, in respect of each panel, a list (in this Act referred to as a provisional Oireachtas sub-panel) in the prescribed form of the persons in respect of whom he has received, before the expiration of the said time, nominations to such panel by members of the Oireachtas.

(2) In preparing the provisional Oireachtas sub-panels, the Seanad returning officer shall not:—

( a ) include the name of a person whose nomination has been received after the expiration of the time for Oireachtas panel nominations,

( b ) include the name of a person whose nomination is declared by this Act to be wholly void, or

( c ) include the name of a person more than once in the same sub-panel.

31.—Where the Seanad returning officer receives a proposal for nomination paper or a nomination paper at a Seanad general election (other than a paper declared by this Act to be wholly void or a paper so received after the time limited by this Act for such receipt)—

( a ) the Seanad returning officer shall forthwith post up, in such public place in the county borough of Dublin as he considers most suitable, a notice stating the fact of the receipt by him of the paper and the name, address and description (as stated in the paper) of the person purported to be proposed or nominated by the paper and the panel to which such person purports to be so proposed or nominated,

( b ) the Seanad returning officer shall hold the paper available for inspection by candidates between the hours of 10 a.m. and 1 p.m on week-days during the period beginning on the day after the day of the receipt of the paper and ending on the day before the day of the completion or resumption of the completion (as may be appropriate) of the panels.

32.—A meeting (in this Act referred to as a nomination committee (general election) meeting) of the nomination committee for a panel for which there are three or more nominating bodies shall be held on the day and at the place and hour appointed in that behalf by a Seanad general election, order and, at least seven days before the meeting, the Seanad returning officer shall send by post, to each person named in the electoral roll constituted under section 33 of this Act for the meeting, a notice in the prescribed form with respect to the holding of the meeting.

33.—(1) Where a nomination committee (general election) meeting is to be held, the Seanad returning officer shall prepare from the register under section 21 of this Act, a list stating the names, addresses and description of the members of the nomination committee and the list shall be the electoral roll for the purposes of the meeting and shall be final and conclusive.

(2) The several persons named in, the electoral roll constituted under this section for a nomination committee (general election) meeting (and no other person) shall be entitled to vote at the poll at the meeting.

(3) The death of a person-named in an electoral roll constituted under this section shall not prejudice or affect the validity or operation of the electoral roll.

34.—(1) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to every nomination committee (general election) meeting:—

( a ) the Seanad returning officer shall preside at the meeting and shall conduct the proceedings thereof;

( b ) the proceedings shall commence at the time appointed for the meeting by the relevant Seanad general election order if there is then a quorum or, if there is not then a quorum, when there is a quorum;

( c ) the Seanad returning officer and his assistants and the persons named in the electoral roll constituted for the meeting under section 33 of this Act, and no other person, may be present at the meeting;

( d ) each member of the nomination committee attending the meeting shall, when or as soon as may be after he enters the meeting, sign his name in a book or other record (to be provided and kept by the Seanad returning officer) of attendances;

( e ) a poll shall be held for the purpose of selecting, from the persons included in the nominating bodies list in respect of the relevant panel, the appropriate number of persons to be included in the provisional nominating bodies sub-panel in respect of that panel;

( f ) for the purposes of the poll, the Seanad returning officer shall make available such ballot boxes, desks, and other furniture as he considers necessary and also provide a sufficient number of ballot papers;

( g ) the Seanad returning officer shall close the poll at the expiration of two hours from the time at which it was opened;

( h ) a person shall not be entitled to receive a ballot paper unless or until he has signed his name under paragraph (d ) of this subsection;

( i ) a person in giving his vote must place on the ballot paper the figure 1 opposite the name of the person for whom he votes, and he may in addition place on the ballot paper the figures 2 and 3, or 2, 3 and 4, and so on opposite the names of other persons in the order of his preference.

( j ) any ballot paper—

(i) in which the figure 1 standing alone is not placed at all or is not so placed as to indicate a first preference, or

(ii) on which the figure 1 standing alone indicating a first preference is get opposite more than one name, or

(iii) on which the figure 1 standing alone indicating a first preference and some other number is set opposite a name,

shall be invalid and shall not be counted;

( k ) the Seanad returning officer shall take all such steps as he considers proper or expedient for preserving the secrecy of the voting at the poll;

( l ) every question which arises at or in relation to the taking of the poll shall be decided by the Seanad returning officer and his decision on any such question shall be final and unappealable;

( m ) at the close of the poll, the Seanad returning officer shall ascertain, in accordance with this Act and, in particular, the rules contained in the Second Schedule to this Act, the result of the poll and shall announce such result to the candidates then present (if any);

( n ) the Seanad returning officer and his assistants and the candidates (or their duly appointed representatives), and no other person, shall be entitled to be present at the ascertainment of the result of the poll.

(2) In subsection (1) of this section, the expression "the appropriate number" means:—

( a ) in the case of the cultural and educational panel—six,

( b ) in the case of the agricultural panel or the labour panel—fourteen,

( c ) in the case of the industrial and commercial panel—twelve,

( d ) in the case of the administrative panel—eight.

35.—(1) The Seanad returning officer shall, as soon as conveniently may be after a nomination, committee (general election) meeting, prepare a list (in this Act referred to as a provisional nominating bodies sub-panel) in the prescribed form of the persons selected at such meeting.

(2) Where there is one nominating body, and no more, or there are two nominating bodies, and no more, for a panel, the Seanad returning officer shall, as soon as conveniently may be after the preparation under subsection (6) of section 28 of this Act of a nominating bodies list in respect of the panel, prepare a list (in this Act also referred to as a provisional nominating bodies sub-panel) of the persons included in such nominating bodies list.

36.—(1) At eleven o'clock in the morning on the day and at the place appointed in that behalf by a Seanad general election order, the Seanad returning officer shall attend and hold a sitting (in this Act referred to as the completion of the panels) at which he shall do all such things as he is required by the subsequent provisions of this Act to do at such sitting.

(2) At the completion of the panels, the Seanad returning officer shall proceed as follows:—

( a ) he shall group the provisional Oireachtas sub-panels and the provisional nominating bodies sub-panels into five groups, each group consisting of a provisional Oireachtas sub-panel and a provisional nominating bodies sub-panel in respect of the same panel;

( b ) as respects each of the groups of sub-panels—

(i) he shall examine each nomination paper in pursuance of which a person was entered in either sub-panel, shall rule upon the validity or invalidity of each nomination paper and the validity or invalidity of the nomination purported to be made thereby and shall delete from the sub-panels every entry made therein in pursuance of a nomination paper or a nomination which he decides to be invalid,

(ii) he shall examine the qualifications of each person whose name remains on the sub-panels after the said deletions and shall delete from the sub-panels the name of every person in respect of whom he is not satisfied that such person is qualified under subsection 10 of section 7 of Article 18 of the Constitution to be on the panel to which the sub-panels relate,

(iii) he shall, in respect of every person whom he determines to be qualified to be on such panel, enter in the relevant sub-panel a statement, in such form as he thinks proper, of the qualifications which he determines to be in fact the qualification of such person to be on such panel,

(iv) he shall then delete all duplicate entries remaining on the sub-panels and shall for that purpose give preference to a nomination by a nominating body;

( c ) if, when the Provisions of paragraph (b) of this subsection have been complied with, any person is found to be entered in two or more groups of sub-panels—

(i) the Seanad returning officer shall retain the name of such person on such one of the groups as such person or his agent elects,

(ii) if such person or his agent (as the case may be) refuses or fails to elect or neither such person nor his agent is present or reasonably available, the Seanad returning officer shall retain the name of such person in such one of the groups of sub-panels as the Seanad returning officer determines by lot,

(iii) the Seanad returning officer shall delete the name of such person from all the groups of sub-panels except that on which he is required, by whichever of the foregoing subparagraphs of this paragraph is applicable, to retain the name of such person.

(3) In carrying out the provisions of this Act in relation to the proceedings at the completion of the panels, the Seanad returning officer shall have due regard to all decisions of the judicial referee on questions referred to him under this Act by the Seanad returning officer.

(4) A decision by the Seanad returning officer at the completion of the panels shall be final and conclusive subject only to such reference to the judicial referee as is provided for by this Act.

37.—(1) If, when the provisions of section 36 of this Act, have been complied with, the number of persons whose names are entered in any provisional sub-panel does not exceed by at least two the maximum number of members of Seanad Eireann permitted by this Act to be elected therefrom, the Seanad returning officer shall adjourn to a convenient day and hour the further proceedings at the completion of the panels and shall report to the Taoiseach the deficiency in the said provisional sub-panel and furnish to the Taoiseach a copy of the provisional sub-panels as settled immediately before the adjournment.

(2) Upon receiving a report under subsection (1) of this section, the Taoiseach shall nominate to every provisional sub-panel in respect of which he receives the report such number of persons as will be sufficient to bring the number of persons on the provisional sub-panel up to a number exceeding by two (and no more) the maximum number of members of Seanad Eireann permitted by this Act to be elected therefrom.

(3) Where the Taoiseach is required by subsection (92) of this section to make nominations to a provisional sub-panel, it shall be lawful for him to make additional nominations to such provisional sub-panel in excess of the number of nominations required by that subsection, but the additional nominations shall be substitutional only and shall be operative only if and so far as is requisite by reason of the invalidity of one or more of the other nominations made by the Taoiseach under this section to such provisional sub-panel.

(4) A nomination made by the Taoiseach under this section shall he made in accordance with the following provisions:—

( a ) the nomination shall be made in writing on a nomination paper in the prescribed form;

( b ) the nomination shall be made by a separate nomination paper;

( c ) the nomination paper shall state the sub-panel in respect of which the nomination is made and shall also contain the particulars required by the said prescribed form of nomination paper to be stated therein (including a statement of the qualifications of the person thereby nominated for the panel to which he is so nominated) and shall be signed by the Taoiseach;

( d ) the nomination paper shall be delivered or sent to the Seanad returning officer and shall be so sent or delivered that it is received by the Seanad returning officer before the time to which the completion of the panels was adjourned under subsection (1) of this section.

(5) On the resumption of the completion of the panels after the adjournment thereof under subsection (1) of this section, the Seanad returning officer shall consider and rule upon the nominations made by the Taoiseach under this section (including examining and ruling upon the qualifications of every person so nominated for the panel to which he is so nominated) and shall enter in the proper place in the proper provisional sub-panel the name, address, and description of every person whom he finds to be validly so nominated, together with a statement, in such form as he thinks proper, of the qualifications which he determines to be in fact the qualifications of such person to be on such panel.

38.—(1) The President of the High Court or some other judge of the High Court nominated by him shall attend at the completion of the panels and there sit and act as judicial referee.

(2) The Seanad returning officer may, on his own motion, and shall, if so requested by any person whose name is on a provisional sub-panel for the time being under consideration or by the agent of any such person, refer to the judicial referee any question arising during the completion of the panels in relation to any nomination paper, the nomination of any person to a panel, the qualifications of any person for a panel, the statement by the Seanad returning officer of such qualification, or any other matter connected with the provisional panels.

(3) The judicial referee shall there and then decide and announce his decision on every question referred to him under this section by the Seanad returning officer.

(4) The decision of the judicial referee on any question referred to him under this section by the Seanad returning officer shall be final and conclusive and shall not be open to review by any court.

(5) A question may be referred to the judicial referee under this section whether the Seanad returning officer has or has not himself given a decision thereon.

39.—(1) Subject to compliance (where appropriate) with subsection (2) of this section, at the completion of the panels every question relevant to the nomination of a person to a panel, including the validity of nomination papers, the sufficiency or the correctness of any statement in a nomination paper, the validity or the disqualification of any nomination and the qualifications of any person for any panel, may be raised by the Seanad returning officer or by any person whose name is on a provisional sub-panel for the time being under consideration or by the agent of any such person.

(2) Where a person other than the Seanad returning officer proposes to raise a question at the completion of the panels, he shall deliver a statement of the question and of the grounds therefor to the Seanad returning officer at least two days before the day of the completion of the panels.

(3) Where the identity of the person purported to be nominated by a nomination paper is free from doubt, the nomination paper shall not be rejected or declared invalid merely because of an error in, or the incompleteness of, the statement therein of the name, address or description of such person.

(4) The Seanad returning officer may, for the purpose of deciding any question at issue during the completion of the panels, receive and act upon evidence, whether oral or written, tendered to him by or on behalf of any person affected by such question, and may, if he so thinks proper, require such evidence to be given on oath and may for that purpose administer an oath.

(5) The judicial referee may, for the purpose of deciding any question referred to him during the completion of the panels, receive and act upon evidence, whether oral or written, tendered to him by or on behalf of any person affected by such question (being, save where the judicial referee otherwise allows, evidence which was made available to the Seanad returning officer), and may, if he so thinks proper, require such evidence to be given: on oath and may for that purpose administer an oath.

40.—The following (and no other) persons shall be entitled to be present at the completion of the panels:—

( a ) the Seanad returning officer and his assistants;

( b ) the judicial referee and one person brought by him to attend on him;

( c ) any person in whose name is on a provisional sub-panel;

( d ) one agent of each person whose name is on a provisional sub-panel;

( e ) witnesses giving oral evidence, but only while giving such evidence;

( f ) such other persons as the Seanad returning officer thinks proper to admit.

41.—(1) The proceedings at the completion of the panels shall, so far as practicable, be proceeded with continuously, but may at any time be suspended by the Seanad returning officer, with the consent of the judicial referee, for such period as the Seanad returning officer thinks proper for refreshment, night-time or other reason appearing to him to be sufficient.

(2) Whenever the proceedings at the completion of the panels are suspended under this section, the Seanad returning officer shall take all proper precautions for the security of the nomination papers, provisional sub-panels and other relevant documents.

42.—(1) Where, before the expiration of the time for general panel proposed nominations, a nominating body satisfies the Seanad returning officer that a person proposed for nomination to a panel by the body has died or become disqualified for membership of Seanad Eireann, the Seanad returning officer shall forthwith cancel the proposal for nomination of such person, and thereupon such proposal for nomination shall be deemed for the purposes of this Act never to have been received by the Seanad returning officer and it shall be lawful for the body to propose for nomination in accordance with this Act a person to the panel in the place of the person who has died or become disqualified.

(2) Where, before the expiration of the time for Oireachtas panel nominations, the Seanad returning officer is satisfied that a person nominated to a panel by members of the Oireachtas has died or become disqualified for membership of Seanad Eireann, the Seanad returning officer shall forthwith cancel such nomination and thereupon it shall be deemed never to have been made.

(3) In the counting of the votes cast at a Seanad general election, all the preferences recorded for a candidate named in a panel of whose death (whether before or after the completion of the panel) the Seanad returning officer is satisfied before the close of the poll shall be disregarded and regard shall be had in lieu thereof to the next available preferences.

(4) Subject to the foregoing provisions of this section, the fact that a candidate named in a panel has (whether before or after the close of the poll) died or become disqualified for membership of Seanad Eireann shall not invalidate or prejudice the panel or the nomination of the candidate thereto or any preferences recorded for him, and, if he is elected, his election shall not be invalidated by reason of his having so died or become disqualified, but he shall be deemed to have vacated his membership of Seanad Eireann immediately after his said election thereto.

43.—(1) When, at the completion of the panels, the proceedings provided for in the foregoing sections of this Act have been completed, the Seanad returning officer shall prepare the five panels, each of which shall consist of a list (arranged in accordance with the subsequent provisions of this section) of the persons who have been found to be validly nominated thereto.

(2) Each of the panels shall be divided into two parts (in this Act referred to as sub-panels) one of which (in this Act referred to as the nominating bodies sub-panel) shall consist of a list of the persons nominated thereto by nominating bodies, and the other of which (in this Act referred to as the Oireachtas sub-panel) shall consist of a list of the persons nominated thereto by members of the Oireachtas.

(3) The persons named in a panel shall be described therein by their names, addresses and descriptions as stated in their respective nomination papers, and there shall be added to the description of every such person a statement of his qualifications for such panel as entered in the relevant provisional sub-panel in pursuance of the foregoing provisions of this Act.

(4) The persons named in a part of a panel shall be arranged in such part in the alphabetical order of their surnames and, in the case of identity of surnames, of their other names.

(5) When the Seanad returning officer has prepared the five panels he shall publish them in the Iris Oifigiúil.

(6) The several panels as prepared and published by the Seanad returning officer in pursuance of this section shall be final and conclusive and not open to review by any Court.

CHAPTER III The Poll

44.—(1) At every Seanad general election the electorate shall consist of:—

( a ) the members of Dáil Eireann elected at the Dáil election consequent on the dissolution of Dáil Eireann which occasioned such Seanad general election, and

( b ) the members of Seanad Eireann, and

( c ) the members of every council of a county or county borough.

(2) In subsection (1) of this section, a reference to members of a council of a county or county borough shall, where the members of the council stand removed from office under Part IV of the Local Government Act, 1941 (No. 23 of 1941), be construed as a reference to the surviving persons who were members of the council immediately before the removal and have not, since the removal, suffered any such adjudication in bankruptcy or conviction of a crime or offence as would, in the case of a member of the council, have terminated his membership.

45.—(1) The Seanad returning officer shall prepare an electoral roll containing the names, addresses and descriptions of the persons constituting the electorate at a Seanad general election.

(2) The Clerk of Dáil Eireann shall, not later than three days after he has received all the returns to the writs for a Dáil election, send to the Seanad returning officer a statement of the names, addresses and descriptions of the members of Dáil Eireann who are entitled under this Act to be members of the electorate at the ensuing Seanad general election.

(3) The secretary of the council of a county or town clerk of a county borough shall, not later than fifteen days after a dissolution of Dáil Eireann, send to the Seanad returning officer a statement of the names, addresses and descriptions of the members or former members of the council of the county or county borough who are entitled under this Act to be members of the electorate at the ensuing Seanad general election

(4) Where a person is a member of the electorate for a Seanad general election by virtue of more than one qualification, his name shall nevertheless be entered once only in the electoral roll for the election.

(5) It shall be lawful for the Seanad returning officer to make such inquiries and take such steps as he thinks proper for ascertaining the correct name, address or description of every person whose name is required to be entered in an electoral roll under this section, but no omission of or inaccuracy in the name, address, or description of any person in an electoral roll under this section shall invalidate the roll.

(6) An electoral roll prepared under this section shall be final and conclusive and not open to review by any court, and the persons whose names are set out in the roll, and no other person, shall be entitled to vote at the Seanad general election to which the roll relates.

(7) The death of a person whose name is entered in an electoral roll under this section shall not prejudice or affect the validity or operation of the roll, whether such death occurred before or occurs after the preparation of the roll.

46.—As soon as practicable after the completion of the electoral roll in respect of a Seanad general election or the publication in relation to the election of the panels in the Iris Oifigiúil (whichever happens later) and in any event before the day on which the ballot papers are to be issued, the Seanad returning officer shall send by post to each person whose name is on the electoral roll, at his address as stated on the electoral roll, a copy of the five panels as published in the Iris Oifigiúil, but with the modification that there shall, in such copy, be inserted in respect of every person on any panel a statement of the body or persons on whose nomination he was put on such panel.

47.—(1) The following provisions shall apply and have effect in relation to the ballot papers at a Seanad general election:

( a ) there shall be different ballot papers for each panel;

( b ) a ballot paper shall contain the names, addresses, and descriptions of all the candidates named in the panel to which it relates arranged in the alphabetical order of their surnames and, in cases of identity of surname, of their other names, and either in one continuous column or in two or more columns as the Seanad returning officer, with the consent of the Minister, considers to be most convenient;

( c ) a ballot paper shall also state, in respect of every candidate named therein, the sub-panel in which he is named as a candidate;

( d ) the surnames of the several candidates shall be printed on a ballot paper in large characters and their other names and their addresses and descriptions shall be printed in small characters, save that, whenever the surnames of two or more candidates are the same, there shall be printed in large characters (in addition to their surnames) the other names of such candidates and- so much of the address or the description or of both the address and the description of each such candidate as will, in the opinion of the Seanad returning officer, effectively distinguish such candidate.

(2) Subject to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, the ballot papers shall be in the prescribed form and each ballot paper shall have a number printed on the back thereof and shall have attached thereto a counterfoil with the same number printed on the face of such counterfoil, and every ballot paper shall, at the time of issue thereof, be marked on both sides thereof with an official mark either stamped or perforated.

48.—(1) An elector in marking a ballot paper at a Seanad general election must place on the ballot paper the figure 1 opposite the name of the candidate for whom he votes, and he may in addition place on the ballot paper the figures 2 and 3, or 2, 3 and 4, and so on, opposite the names of other candidates in the order of his preference.

(2) Any ballot paper—

( a ) which does not bear the official mark, or

( b ) on which the figure 1 standing alone is not placed at all or is not so placed as to indicate a first preference for some candidate, or

( c ) on which the figure 1 standing alone indicating a first preference is set opposite the name of more than one candidate, or

( d ) on which the figure 1 standing alone indicating a first preference and some other number is set opposite the name of the same candidate, or

( e ) on which anything except the number on the back is written or marked by which the voter can be identified,

shall be invalid and shall not be counted.

49.—(1) On the day appointed for the issue of ballot papers at a Seanad general election the Seanad returning officer shall send by registered post to each person whose name is on the electoral roll for that election at the address stated on such electoral roll a ballot paper for each panel.

(2) Whenever a person to whom ballot papers for a Seanad general election should be sent under subsection (1) of this section states in writing to the Seanad returning officer that more than twenty-four hours have elapsed since such ballot papers should have been delivered to him in the ordinary course of post and that he has not received such ballot papers and that he desires duplicate ballot papers to be issued to him, the Seanad returning officer, if such statement is received by him not less than forty-eight hours before the close of the poll at the election, shall forthwith or, if such statement is received by him less than forty-eight hours before the close of the poll at the election, may send by registered post to such person at the address mentioned in subsection (1) of this section a ballot paper for each panel all of which, by being printed on paper of a special colour or otherwise, are clearly distinguished as duplicates of the ballot papers originally sent to such person.

(3) The Seanad returning officer shall, when sending out ballot papers in pursuance of this section, observe the rules contained in the First Schedule to this Act.

50.—The Seanad returning officer shall issue the ballot papers at a Seanad general election in accordance with the rules contained in the First Schedule to this Act on the day appointed in that behalf by the relevant Seanad (general election) order.

51.—(1) Every person entitled to vote at a Seanad general election shall be entitled to vote at that election in the following and no other manner, that is to say, by marking one or more of the ballot papers sent to him under section 50 of this Act and returning by registered post to the Seanad returning officer all of those ballot papers together with the form of declaration of identity, furnished to him pursuant to the rules contained in the First Schedule to this Act, duly made and completed by him.

(2) Whenever a person entitled to vote at a Seanad general election states in writing to the Seanad returning officer that he duly returned by registered post to the Seanad returning officer the ballot papers and a form of declaration of identity and that the same does not appear to have been delivered to the Seanad returning officer and that he desires duplicate ballot papers to be issued to him, the Seanad returning officer, if such statement is received by him not less than forty-eight hours before the close of the poll at the election, shall forthwith or, if such statement is received by him less than forty-eight hours before the close of the poll at the election, may send by registered post to such person at his address as stated in the electoral roll a ballot paper for each panel all of which, by being printed on paper of a special colour or otherwise, are clearly distinguished as duplicates of the ballot papers originally sent to such person.

(3) The procedure to be followed in connection with the marking of the ballot papers at a Seanad general election and the sending of such papers to the Seanad returning officer shall be that specified in the rules contained in the First Schedule to this Act.

52.—The numbers of members of Seanad Eireann to be elected from each of the panels shall be as follows:—

( a ) five members shall be elected from the cultural and educational panel, of whom two at least shall be elected from each sub-panel of that panel;

( b ) eleven members shall be elected from the agricultural panel, of whom four at least shall be elected from each sub-panel of that panel;

( c ) eleven members shall be elected from the labour panel, of whom four at least shall be elected from each sub-panel of that panel;

( d ) nine members shall be elected from the industrial and commercial panel, of whom three at least shall be elected from each sub-panel of that panel;

( e ) seven members shall be elected from the administrative panel, of whom three at least shall be elected from each sub-panel of that panel.

53.—(1) The Seanad returning officer shall, in the presence of such candidates as may be in attendance, ascertain separately, in accordance with this Act and, in particular, the rules contained in the First and Second Schedules to this Act, the result of a Seanad general election in respect of each panel and shall declare to be elected from such panel the candidates who are so ascertained to be elected.

(2) The decision of the Seanad returning officer as to any question arising at a Seanad general election on the ballot papers, the envelopes containing the ballot papers, the declarations of identity or any other matter arising on the issue or the receipt of the ballot papers or on the counting of the votes shall be final, but subject, where an objection in writing to the decision has been delivered to the Seanad returning officer before the declaration of the result of the election, to review by a court trying an election petition in relation to the election.

54.—(1) The enactments relating to the presentation and trial of election petitions in relation to elections of members of Dáil Eireann shall apply to Seanad general elections with the following modifications:

( a ) the court trying an election petition in relation to a Seanad general election shall not have power to declare the whole election to be void but may declare the election of any, one or more of the candidates returned as elected at the election to be void or to be valid as justice may require;

( b ) where the court so declares the election of a candidate to be void, the court shall declare that such one as justice may require of the candidates not returned as elected was elected;

( c ) the said court shall have power to make such amendments as may be necessary to give effect to its decisions in the certificate of the Seanad returning officer of the result of the election;

( d ) it shall not be obligatory on the said court to cause a recount to be made of the votes given for, or to investigate the voting or the counting of the votes in respect of, the candidates on a panel in relation to which the said court is satisfied that the voting in respect of the candidates on such panel is not in issue on the petition;

( e ) references (including references by adaptation) to Dáil Eireann shall be construed as references to Seanad Eireann, and references (including references by adaptation) to the Chairman or the Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Eireann shall be construed as references to the Chairman of Seanad Eireann.

(2) A person who has voted at a Seanad general election shall not, in any legal proceedings to question the election or return of any candidate at the election, be required to state for whom he has voted.

PART V SEANAD BYE-ELECTION

CHAPTER I Notice of Casual Vacancy and Seanad Bye-election Order

55.—(1) Where a casual vacancy occurs in the membership of Seanad Eireann, the Clerk of Seanad Eireann shall, on the direction of Seanad Eireann, send to the Minister notice (in this Act referred to as notice of a casual vacancy)in writing of the vacancy.

(2) A notice of a casual vacancy shall state, in respect of the member whose death, resignation, or disqualification occasioned the vacancy, the panel and sub-panel from which the member was elected at the next preceding Seanad general election or, if he was elected at a Seanad bye-election, the panel and sub-panel from which the member whose place he was so elected to fill (whether directly or indirectly) was elected at the next preceding Seanad general election.

56.—(1) Where the Minister receives from the Clerk of Seanad Eireann a notice of a casual vacancy, the Minister shall, as soon as conveniently may be and in, any case not more than one hundred and eighty days after receiving the notice, make an order (in this Act referred to as a Seanad bye-election order) directing an election to be held in accordance with this Part of this Act to fill the vacancy and stating the panel and sub-panel in respect of which the vacancy occurred and appointing for the purposes of the election the times and places mentioned in whichever of the two next following subsections of this section is applicable.

(2) Where the vacancy in respect of which a Seanad, bye-election order is made is a nominating bodies sub-panel vacancy, the order shall appoint—

( a ) the day on which and the place and hour at which the nomination committee (bye-election) meeting will be held,

( b ) the day on which and the place at which the Seanad returning officer will sit for the ruling upon nomination, and

( c ) the address of the Seanad returning officer.

(3) Where the vacancy in respect of which a Seanad bye-election order is made is an Oireachtas sub-panel vacancy, the order shall appoint—

( a ) the day which will be the last day for receiving nominations, and

( b ) the day on which and the place at which the Seanad returning officer will sit for the ruling upon nomination, and

( c ) the day which will be the day of issue of ballot papers, and

( d ) the day and hour (in this Act referred to as the close of the poll) on and at which the poll will be closed, and

( e ) the address of the Seanad returning officer.

(4) A Seanad bye-election order shall be published in the Iris Oifigiúil as soon as may be after it is made.

57.—(1) Where a dissolution of Dáil Eireann takes place after a notice of a casual vacancy has been received by the Minister and before a Seanad bye-election order has been made in respect of the vacancy, the notice shall become and be annulled by the dissolution and, notwithstanding anything contained in this Part of this Act, a Seanad bye-election order shall not be made in respect of the vacancy.

(2) Where a dissolution of Dáil Eireann takes place after a bye-election order has been made and before the election in pursuance of the order has been completed, the order shall become and be annulled by the dissolution and no further steps shall be taken in respect of the order, but the annulment shall not prejudice or affect the right of the Seanad returning officer to be paid under this Act his reasonable charges in respect of duties performed in relation to the election before the dissolution.

58.—If at any time the Minister has received two or more notices of a casual vacancy which have not been annulled by a dissolution of Dáil Eireann and in respect of which he has not made a Seanad bye-election order, separate Seanad bye-election orders shall be made and separate elections shall be held in respect of each of the vacancies to which the notices relate.

CHAPTER II Nominating Bodies Sub-panel Casual Vacancies

59.—Where the Minister makes a Seanad bye-election order in respect of a casual vacancy in the membership of Seanad Eireann which is stated in the order to be a vacancy in respect of the nominating bodies sub-panel of a particular panel, a meeting (in this Act referred to as a nomination committee (bye-election) meeting) of the nomination committee for the said panel shall be held on the day and at the place and hour appointed in that behalf by the order and, at least seven days before the meeting, the Seanad returning officer shall send by post to each person named in the electoral roll constituted under section 60 of this Act for the meeting a notice in the prescribed form with respect to the holding of the meeting.

60.—(1) Where a nomination committee (bye-election) meeting is to be held, the Seanad returning officer shall prepare, from the register under section 21 of this Act, a list stating the names, addresses and descriptions of the members of the nomination committee and the list shall be the electoral roll for the purposes of the meeting and shall be final and conclusive.

(2) The several persons named in the electoral roll constituted under this section f or a nomination committee (bye-election) meeting (and no other person) shall be entitled to vote at the poll (if any) at the meeting.

(3) The death of a person named in an electoral roll constituted under this section shall not prejudice or affect the validity or operation of the electoral roll.

61.—The following provisions shall apply and have effect, in relation to every nomination committee (bye-election) meeting:

( a ) the Seanad returning officer shall preside at the meeting and shall conduct the proceedings thereof;

( b ) the proceedings shall commence at the time appointed for the meeting by the relevant Seanad bye-election order if there is then a quorum or, if there is not then a quorum, when there is a quorum;

( c ) the Seanad returning officer and his assistants and the persons named in the electoral roll constituted for the meeting under section 60 of this Act, and no other person, may be present at the meeting;

( d ) each member of the nomination committee attending the meeting shall, when or as soon as may be after he enters the meeting, sign his name in a book or other record (to be provided and kept by the Seanad returning officer) of attendances;

( e ) the Seanad returning officer shall provide a sufficient number of the prescribed nomination forms and shall make such forms available to the members of the nomination committee present;

( f ) any member of the nomination committee present may, at any time within one hour after the commencement of the proceedings, nominate a person for election;

( g ) a nomination shall be made on a prescribed nomination form supplied by the Seanad returning officer and shall be signed by the member making the-nomination and shall be handed by him to the Seanad returning officer;

( h ) a nomination shall state the name, address, and description of the person thereby nominated and include a statement of his qualifications for the panel for which such nomination committee is the nomination committee;

( i ) the Seanad returning officer shall reject any nomination which appears to him not to be made and completed in accordance with this section;

( j ) any nomination may, at any time within one hour after the commencement of the proceedings, be withdrawn by the member who made it;

( k ) the withdrawal of a nomination shall be affected by the member concerned endorsing on the nomination paper (which shall be handed to him for the purpose by the Seanad returning officer) a signed statement of withdrawal;

( l ) the Seanad returning officer shall make every nomination accepted by him and every withdrawal of a nomination available for the inspection of the members of the nomination committee present;

( m ) if, at the expiration of one hour from the commencement of the proceedings, two or more persons have been duly nominated, the Seanad returning officer shall, at such expiration, adjourn the meeting to a convenient time and place (whether on the same or a subsequent day) in order to take a poll for the purpose of selecting one of those persons;

( n ) if, at the expiration of one hour from the commencement of the proceedings, one person and no more has been duly nominated, the meeting shall terminate at the expiration of the said hour and the Seanad returning officer shall make and sign a certificate of provisional election in accordance with the subsequent provisions of this Chapter;

( o ) if, at the expiration of one hour from the commencement of the proceedings, no person has been duly nominated, the meeting shall terminate at the expiration of the said hour and the Seanad returning officer shall report the fact and the circumstances of such termination to the Minister.

62.—When a nomination committee (bye-election) meeting has been adjourned for the purpose of taking a poll, the Seanad returning officer shall take the poll in accordance with the following provisions:

( a ) the poll shall be taken on the day and at the time and place to which such meeting was adjourned, and shall be deemed to be a continuation of such meeting;

( b ) the Seanad returning officer shall make available at the said place a suitable room for taking the poll and shall provide therein such ballot boxes, desks, and other furniture as he considers necessary and shall also provide a sufficient number of ballot papers;

( c ) the Seanad returning officer and his assistants and the persons named in the electoral roll constituted for such meeting under section 60 of this Act, and no other person, may be present at the taking of the poll;

( d ) at the said time to which such meeting was adjourned the Seanad returning officer shall open the poll and at the expiration of one hour from that time he shall close the poll;

( e ) a person shall not be entitled to receive a ballot paper unless or until he has, either at the meeting before the' adjournment thereof or at the taking of the poll, signed his name in a book or other record (to be provided and kept by the Seanad returning officer) of attendances;

( f ) a person in giving his vote must place on the ballot paper the figure 1 opposite the name of the person for whom he votes, and he may in addition place on the ballot paper the figures 2 and 3, or 2, 3, and 4, and so on opposite the names of other persons in the order of his preference;

( g ) any ballot paper—

(i) on which the figure 1 standing alone is not placed at all or is not so placed as to indicate a first preference, or

(ii) on which the figure 1 standing alone indicating a first preference is set opposite more than one name, or

(iii) on which the figure 1 standing alone indicating a first preference and some other number is set opposite a name,

shall be invalid and shall not be counted;

( h ) the Seanad returning officer shall take all such steps as he considers proper or expedient for preserving the secrecy of the voting at the poll;

( i ) every question which arises at or in relation to the taking of the poll shall be decided by the Seanad returning officer and his decision on any such question shall be final and unappealable;

( j ) at the close of the poll, the Seanad returning officer shall ascertain, in accordance with this Act and, in particular, the rules contained in the Second Schedule to this Act, the result of the poll and shall announce such result to the candidates then present (if any);

( k ) the Seanad returning officer and his assistants and the candidates (or their duly appointed representatives), and no other person, shall be entitled to be present at the ascertainment of the result of the poll.

63.—(1) If, at the expiration of one hour from the commencement of the proceedings at a nomination committee (bye-election) meeting, one person and no more has been duly nominated, the Seanad returning officer shall make and sign a certificate (in this Act referred to as a certificate of provisional election) in the prescribed form stating the name, address and description of such person.

(2) If a nomination committee (bye-election) meeting is adjourned for the purpose of taking a poll, the Seanad returning officer, shall when the counting of the votes at the poll has been completed, make and sign a certificate (in this Act also referred to as a certificate of provisional election) in the prescribed form stating the name, address and description of the person selected at the poll.

(3) The Seanad returning officer shall publish in the Iris Oifigiúil every certificate of provisional election made and signed by him in pursuance of this section and shall at the same time publish in the Iris Oifigiúil a notice stating the day and place appointed by the relevant Seanad bye-election order for the ruling upon nomination.

(4) A certificate of provisional election made, signed and published in pursuance of this section shall be conclusive evidence that, the person named in the certificate was duly nominated at the nomination (bye-election) meeting to which it relates and either (as the case may be) that he was the only person so nominated or, if such meeting was adjourned for the purpose of taking a poll, that the poll was duly and properly taken and that such person was selected at the poll.

(5) The Seanad returning officer shall, during the period beginning on the day after the completion of a certificate of provisional election under subsection (2) of this section and ending on the day before the day of the ruling upon nomination, hold the nomination papers which he accepted available for inspection by candidates between the hours of 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on weekdays.

64.—(1) Where a Seanad bye-election order relates to a nominating bodies sub-panel casual vacancy, the Seanad returning officer shall, at eleven o'clock in the morning on the day appointed by such order for the ruling upon nomination, attend at the place similarly appointed and then and there hold a sitting (in this Act referred to as the ruling upon nomination) at which he shall rule upon the nomination stated in the certificate of provisional election.

(2) The following provisions shall apply and have effect in relation to every ruling upon nomination held in pursuance of this section:

( a ) the Seanad returning officer shall produce the nomination paper handed to him at the nomination committee (bye-election) meeting of the person named in the certificate of provisional election;

( b ) the Seanad returning officer shall consider and rule upon the validity of the nomination paper and the nomination purported to be made thereby;

( c ) the Seanad returning officer shall reject the nomination as invalid if he rules that the nomination paper or the nomination purported to be made thereby is invalid or if he is not satisfied that such person possesses the qualifications stated in subsection 10 of section 7 of Article 18 of the Constitution in respect of the panel mentioned in the relevant Seanad bye-election order;

( d ) when the Seanad returning officer has ruled upon the nomination—

(i) if he rejects the nomination, he shall so report to the Minister,

(ii) If he does not reject the nomination, the person nominated shall be deemed to be elected to fill the casual vacancy in the membership of Seanad Eireann mentioned in the relevant Seanad (bye-election) order.

65.—(1) Where the Seanad returning officer reports to the Minister—

( a ) that a nomination committee bye-election meeting has terminated because no person has being duly nominated thereat, or

( b ) that he has rejected a nomination at a ruling upon nomination held in pursuance of this Chapter,

the Seanad bye-election order in pursuance of which such meeting or ruling was held and all proceedings had in pursuance of such order shall become and be null and void and such order shall be deemed for the purposes of this Act never to have been made, and the Minister shall make a new Seanad bye-election order in lieu thereof.

(2) A new Seanad bye-election order made under subsection (1) of this section shall be a Seanad bye-election order within the meaning and for the purposes of this Act and this Act (including this section) shall apply and have effect in relation thereto, save that the time within which the Minister shall make such new Seanad bye-election order shall be whichever of the following periods later expires, that is to say, one hundred and eighty days after he receives the relevant notice of a casual vacancy from the Clerk of Seanad Éireann or sixty days after he receives the report mentioned in the said subsection (1) from the Seanad returning officer.

(3) The annulment of a Seanad bye-election order by virtue of this section shall not prejudice or affect the right of the Seanad returning officer to be paid under this Act his reasonable charges in respect of duties performed in pursuance of such order.

CHAPTER III Oireachtas Sub-panel Casual Vacancies

66.—Where the Minister makes a Seanad bye-election order in respect of a casual vacancy in the membership of Seanad Eireann which is stated in such order to be a vacancy in respect of the Oireachtas sub-panel of a particular panel, the Seanad returning officer shall hold, in accordance with this Chapter, an election to fill the vacancy and shall for that purpose send to the Clerk of Dáil Eireann a copy of the Seanad bye-election order together with such number of forms of nomination paper as such Clerk may reasonably require.

67.—(1) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to the nomination of candidates at an election to fill an Oireachtas sub-panel casual vacancy:

( a ) a nomination shall be made in writing on a nomination paper in the prescribed form;

( b ) a nomination paper shall contain the particulars required by the prescribed form of nomination paper to be stated therein, and in particular, a statement of the qualifications of the person thereby nominated for the panel mentioned in the relevant Seanad bye-election order;

( c ) a nomination paper shall be signed by one member of the Oireachtas as proposer and by eight other members of the Oireachtas as assenting to the nomination;

( d ) a nomination paper shall be delivered or sent by post to the Seanad returning officer.

(2) Where the Seanad returning officer receives a nomination paper before four o'clock in the afternoon on the day before the day which is appointed by the relevant Seanad bye-election order to be the last day for receiving nominations, the Seanad returning officer shall forthwith communicate in writing to the Clerk of Dáil Eireann the fact of the nomination paper having been so received and the name, address, and description, as stated in the nomination paper, of the candidate and the name, as similarly stated, of the proposer of the candidate.

(3) As soon as may be after twelve o'clock noon on the day which is appointed by the relevant Seanad bye-election order to be the last day for receiving nominations, the Seanad returning officer shall send to the Clerk of Dáil Eireann a list stating (in the alphabetical order of their surnames and, in case of identity of surname, their other names) the names, addresses, and descriptions, as stated in their respective nomination papers, of the candidates in respect of whom he had received nomination papers before twelve o'clock noon aforesaid and also stating, in respect of every such candidate, the name, as similarly stated, of his proposer.

(4) Any nomination paper received by the Seanad returning officer after twelve o'clock noon on the day which is appointed by the relevant Seanad bye-election order to be the last day for receiving nominations shall be void.

(5) If a member of the Oireachtas signs two or more nomination papers as proposer or as assenting (whether he signs both or an of the nomination papers in the same or in different capacities), both or all of the nomination papers shall be wholly void.

(6) Where the Seanad returning officer receives a nomination paper at an election to fill an Oireachtas sub-panel casual vacancy (other than a nomination paper declared by this Act to be wholly void or a nomination paper so received after the time limited by this Act for such receipt), he shall hold the nomination paper available for inspection by candidates between the hours of 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on week-days during the period beginning on the day after the day of receipt of the nomination paper and ending on the day of the ruling upon nomination.

68.—(1) Where a Seanad bye-election order relates to an Oireachtas sub-panel casual vacancy, the Seanad returning officer shall, at eleven o'clock in the morning on the day appointed by the order for the ruling upon nomination, attend at the place similarly appointed and then and there hold a sitting (in this Act referred to as the ruling upon nomination) at which he shall rule upon the nominations in respect of which nomination papers were received by him before twelve o'clock noon on the day appointed by the order to be the last day for receiving nominations.

(2) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to every ruling upon nomination held in pursuance of this section:

( a ) the Seanad returning officer shall produce the several nomination papers received by him before twelve, o'clock noon, on the last day for receiving nominations and shall consider and rule upon the validity of each such nomination paper and of the nomination purported to be made thereby;

( b ) the Seanad returning officer shall reject as invalid the nomination of any person in respect of whom he rules that the nomination paper of such person or the nomination thereby made is invalid or in respect of whom he is not satisfied that such person possesses the qualifications stated in subsection 10 of section 7 of Article 18 of the Constitution in respect of the panel mentioned in the relevant Seanad bye-election order;

( c ) the Seanad returning officer shall rule as valid every nomination which he does not reject in pursuance of paragraph (b) of this subsection;

( d ) when the Seanad returning officer rules as valid the nomination of any person, he shall forthwith enter in a list (in this Act referred to as the list of candidates) the name, address, and description of such person as stated in his nomination paper and the name of his proposer as similarly stated and a statement, in such form as the Seanad returning officer thinks proper, of the qualifications which he determines to be in fact the qualifications of such person to be on the panel mentioned in the relevant Seanad bye-election order;

( e ) when the Seanad returning officer has considered and ruled upon all the said nomination papers and the nominations made thereby, if only one person stands validly nominated the Seanad returning officer shall declare that person to be elected, but if two or more persons stand validly nominated, the Seanad returning officer shall adjourn the election and take a poll in accordance with the subsequent provisions of this Chapter.

(3) Immediately upon the completion of the ruling upon nomination, the Seanad returning officer shall sign the list of candidates and that list as so signed shall be conclusive evidence as to the persons who stand, or person who stands, validly nominated.

69.—(1) Where the Seanad returning officer adjourns an election under this Chapter for the purpose of taking a poll, he shall forthwith inform the Clerk of Dáil Eireann in writing of the adjournment, and send to him a copy of the list of candidates, and the said Clerk shall, not more than four days after being so informed, furnish to the Seanad returning officer a statement of the names, addresses, and descriptions of all the members of Dáil Eireann who are then entitled to sit and vote in that House.

(2) On receipt of a statement furnished pursuant to subsection (1) of this section in relation to an election, the Seanad returning officer shall prepare a list stating—

( a ) the names, addresses and descriptions included in such statement, and

( b ) the names, addresses and descriptions of all the members of Seanad Eireann who are then entitled to sit and vote in that House,

and the list shall be the electoral roll for the election and shall be final and conclusive.

(3) The several persons named in an electoral roll constituted under this section, and no other person, shall be entitled to vote at the poll at the election in respect of which such electoral roll is so constituted.

(4) The death of a person named in an electoral roll constituted under this section (whether such death occurred before or after the statement referred to in subsection (1) of this section was sent by the Clerk of Dáil Eireann to the Seanad returning officer) shall not prejudice or affect the validity or operation of the electoral roll.

70.—(1) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to the ballot papers at an election under this Chapter:—

( a ) a ballot paper shall contain the names, addresses, and descriptions of all the candidates arranged in the alphabetical order of their surnames and, in cases of identity of surname, of their other names, and either in one continuous column or in two or more columns as the Seanad returning officer, with the consent of the Minister, considers to be most convenient;

( b ) the surnames of the several candidates shall be printed on a ballot paper in large characters and their other names and their addresses and descriptions shall be printed in small characters, save that, whenever the surnames of two or more candidates are the same, there shall be printed in large characters (in addition to their surnames) the other names of such candidates and so much of the address or the description or of both the address and the description of each such candidate as will, in the opinion of the Seanad returning officer, effectively distinguish such candidate.

(2) Subject to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, the ballot papers shall be in the prescribed form and each ballot paper shall have a number printed on the back thereof and shall have attached thereto a counterfoil with the same number printed on the face of such counterfoil, and every ballot paper shall, at the time of issue thereof, be marked on both sides thereof with an official mark either stamped or perforated.

71.—(1) An elector in giving his vote at an election under this Chapter must place on the ballot paper the figure 1 opposite the name of the candidate for whom he votes, and he may in addition place on the ballot paper the figures 2 and 3, or 2, 3 and 4, and so on opposite the names of other candidates in the order of his preference.

(2) Any ballot paper—

( a ) which does not bear the official mark, or

( b ) on which the figure 1 standing alone is not placed at all or is not so placed as to indicate a first preference for some candidate, or —

( c ) on which the figure 1 standing alone indicating a first preference is set opposite the name of more than one candidate, or

( d ) on which the figure 1 standing alone indicating a first preference and some other number is set opposite the name of the same candidate, or

( e ) on which anything except the number on the back is written or Marked by which the voter can be identified,

shall be invalid and shall not be counted.

72.—(1) On the day appointed for the issue of ballot papers at an election under this Chapter, the Seanad returning officer shall send by registered post to each person whose name is on the electoral roll for that election at the address stated on such electoral roll a ballot paper together with a form of declaration of identity.

(2) Where a person to whom a ballot paper for an election under this Chapter should be sent under subsection (1) of this section states in writing to the Seanad returning officer that more than twenty-four hours have elapsed since such ballot paper should have been delivered to him in the ordinary course of post and that he has not received such ballot paper and that he desires a duplicate ballot paper and declaration of identity to be issued to him, the Seanad returning officer, if such statement is received by him not less than forty-eight hours before the close of the poll at the election, shall forthwith or, if such statement is received by him less than forty-eight hours before the close of the poll at the election, may send by registered post to such person at the address mentioned in subsection (1) of this section a ballot paper and a declaration of identity both of which, by being printed on paper of a special colour or otherwise, are clearly distinguished as duplicates of the ballot paper and form of declaration of identity originally sent to such person under this section.

(3) Every such declaration of identity shall be in the prescribed form.

(4) The Seanad returning officer shall, when sending out ballot papers in pursuance of this section, observe the rules contained in the Third Schedule to this Act.

73.—(1) Every person entitled to vote at an election under this Chapter shall be entitled to vote at that election in the following and in no other manner, that is to say, by marking and returning by registered or ordinary post to the Seanad returning officer the ballot paper sent to him under section 72 of this Act together with the form of declaration of identity similarly sent to him therewith duly made and completed by him.

(2) Where a person entitled to vote at an election under this Chapter states in writing to the Seanad returning officer that he duly returned by registered post to the Seanad returning officer the ballot paper and form of declaration of identity sent to him under section 72 of this Act and that they do not appear to have been delivered to the Seanad returning officer and that he desires a duplicate ballot paper and declaration of identity to be issued to him, the Seanad returning officer, if such statement is received by him not less than forty-eight hours before the close of the poll at the election shall forthwith or, if such statement is received by him less than forty-eight hours before the close of the poll at the election, may send by registered post to such person at his address as stated on the electoral roll a ballot paper together with a form of declaration of identity both of which, by being printed on paper of a special colour or otherwise, are clearly distinguished as duplicates of the ballot paper and form of declaration of identity originally sent to such person.

(3) The Seanad returning officer in receiving and otherwise dealing with the ballot papers at a Seanad election shall observe the rules contained in the Third Schedule to this Act.

74.—(1) As soon as conveniently may be after the poll at an election under this Chapter has been closed, the Seanad returning officer shall, in the presence of such candidates as may be in attendance, ascertain separately, in accordance with this Act and in particular the rules contained in the Second and Third Schedules to this Act, the result of the election and shall declare to he elected the candidate who is so ascertained to be elected.

(2) The decision of the Seanad returning officer as to any question arising at an election under this Chapter on the ballot papers, the declarations of identity, or the envelopes containing the same or any other matter arising on the issue or the receipt of the ballot papers or on the counting of the votes shall be final, but subject, where an objection in writing to the decision has been delivered to the Seanad returning officer before the declaration of the result of the election, to review by a court trying an election petition in relation to the election.

75.—(1) The enactments relating to the presentation and trial of election petitions in relation to election of members of Dáil Eireann shall apply to elections under this Chapter with the following modifications:

( a ) the court trying an election petition in relation to an election under this Chapter shall not have power to declare the whole election to be void but may declare the election of the candidate returned as elected at the election to be void or to be valid as justice may require;

( b ) where the said court so declares the election of a candidate to be void, the court shall declare that such one as justice may require of the candidates not returned as elected was elected;

( c ) the said court shall have power to make such amendments as may be necessary to give effect to its decisions in the certificate of the Seanad returning officer of the result of the election;

( d ) references (including references by adaptation) to Dáil Eireann shall be construed as references to Seanad Eireann, and references (including references by adaptation) to the Chairman or the Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Eireann shall be construed as references to the Chairman of Seanad Eireann.

(2) A person who has voted at an election under this Chapter shall not, in any legal proceedings to question the election or return of any candidate at the election, be required to state for whom he has voted.

CHAPTER IV General Provisions in respect of every ruling upon nomination under Chapter III

76.—(1) The President of the High Court or some other judge of the High Court nominated by him shall attend at every ruling upon nomination held under this Part of this Act and shall there sit and act as judicial referee.

(2) The Seanad returning officer may, on his own motion, and shall, if so requested by the person who is named in the relevant certificate of provisional election or whose nomination is required by this Act to be ruled upon at the ruling upon nomination or by the agent of any such person, refer to the judicial referee any question arising during the ruling upon nomination in relation to any nomination paper, the nomination of any person, the qualifications of any person for the relevant panel, the statement by the Seanad returning officer of such qualifications, or any other matter connected with the nomination of any person.

(3) The judicial referee shall there and then decide and announce his decision on every question referred to him under this section by the Seanad returning officer.

(4) The decision of the judicial referee on any question referred to him under this section by the Seanad returning officer shall be final and conclusive and shall not be open to review by any court.

(5) A question may be referred to the judicial referee under this section whether the Seanad returning officer has or has not himself given a decision thereon.

77.—(1) Subject to compliance (where appropriate) with subsection (2) of this section, at any ruling upon nomination held under this Part of this Act every question relevant to the nomination of any person, including the validity of nomination papers, the sufficiency or the correctness of any statement in a nomination paper, the validity of any nomination, and the qualifications or disqualification of any person for the relevant panel, may be raised by the Seanad returning officer or by the person who is named in the relevant certificate of provisional election or whose nomination is required by this Act to be ruled upon at such ruling upon nomination or by the agent of any such person.

(2) Where a person other than the Seanad, returning officer proposes to raise a question at any ruling upon nomination held under this Part of this Act, he shall deliver a statement of the question and of the grounds therefor to the Seanad returning officer at least two days before the day of the ruling upon nomination.

(3) Where the identity of the person purported to be nominated by a nomination paper is free from doubt, the nomination paper shall not be rejected or declared invalid merely because of an error in, or the incompleteness of, the statement therein of the name, address, or description of such person.

(4) The Seanad returning officer may, for the purpose of deciding any question at issue during a ruling upon nomination held under this Part of this Act, receive and act upon evidence, whether oral or written, tendered to him by or on behalf of any person affected by such question, and may, if he so thinks proper, require such evidence to be given on oath and may for that purpose administer an oath.

(5) The judicial referee may, for the purpose of deciding any question at issue during a ruling upon nomination held under this Part of this Act, receive and act upon evidence, whether oral or written, tendered to him by or on behalf of any person affected by such question (being, save where the judicial referee otherwise allows, evidence which was made available to the Seanad returning officer), and may, if he so thinks proper, require such evidence to be given on oath and may for that purpose administer an oath.

78.—The following (and no other) persons may be present at a ruling upon nomination held under this Part of this Act:

( a ) the Seanad returning officer and his assistants;

( b ) the judicial referee and one person brought by him to attend on him;

( c ) the person who is named in the relevant certificate of provisional election or any person whose nomination is required by this Part of this Act to be ruled upon at the ruling upon nomination;

( d ) one agent of each of the persons referred to in paragraph (c) of this section;

( e ) witnesses giving oral evidence, but only while giving such evidence;

( f ) such other persons as the Seanad returning officer thinks proper to admit.

79.—(1) The proceedings at a ruling upon nomination held under this Part of this Act shall, so far as practicable, be proceeded with continuously, but may at any time be suspended by the Seanad returning officer, with the consent of the judicial referee, for such period as the Seanad returning officer thinks proper for refreshment, night-time or other reason appearing to him to be sufficient.

(2) Whenever the proceedings at a ruling upon nomination are suspended under this section, the Seanad returning officer shall take all proper precautions for the security of the nomination papers and other relevant documents.

PART VI MISCELLANEOUS

80.—(1) A member of Seanad Eireann elected under this Act may voluntarily resign his membership of Seanad Eireann by notice in writing to the Chairman of Seanad Eireann who shall announce the resignation to Seanad Eireann at the next meeting thereof.

(2) The resignation under this section of a member of Seanad Eireann shall take effect immediately upon the announcement thereof by the Chairman of Seanad Eireann in pursuance of this section.

81.—Where at a general election of members of Seanad Eireann a person is elected as a member of Seanad Eireann by a university (in this section referred to as a university member) and is also elected as a member of Seanad Eireann under this Act (in this section referred to as a panel member), the following provisions shall have effect:

( a ) such person shall, by writing under his hand delivered to the Clerk of Seanad Eireann before taking his seat in either capacity, declare whether he will sit in Seanad Eireann as a university member or as a panel member;

( b ) if such person does not deliver, within one month after the first meeting of Seanad Eireann after the general election, such declaration as is mentioned in paragraph (a) of this section to the Clerk of Seanad Eireann in accordance with that paragraph, he shall be deemed to have declared at the expiration of that month that he will sit in Seanad Eireann as a university member;

( c ) as soon as such person has declared or is deemed to have declared in which of the said capacities he will sit in Seanad Eireann, he shall be deemed to have resigned his seat in Seanad Eireann as a member thereof in the other of those capacities.

82.—(1) The Seanad returning officer and every officer and clerk concerned in the issue or the receipt of ballot papers or the counting of votes under this Act and every candidate or other person present at such issue, receipt, or counting shall maintain and aid in maintaining the secrecy of the voting at the election and shall not, before the completion of the election, communicate, except for some purpose authorised by law, any information as to whether any elector has or has not voted at the election or as to the official mark, and shall not at any time communicate to any person any information obtained at or in connection with such issue, receipt, or counting as to the candidate for whom any elector has voted or as to whether any elector has or has not voted or as to the number on the back of any ballot paper.

(2) A person shall not interfere with or attempt to interfere with the receipt, marking, or return of the ballot paper of any elector at an election under this Act.

(3) A person shall not directly or indirectly induce any elector at an election under this Act to display his ballot paper after he has marked it so as to make known to such person or to any other person the name of any candidate for whom he has marked his vote on such ballot paper.

(4) A person who acts in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months.

83.—An election of a candidate at an election under this Act shall not be declared void by reason only of a non-compliance with the rules contained in any Schedule to this Act, or any mistake in the use of the forms prescribed under this Act, if it appears to the tribunal having cognisance of the question that the election was conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the body of this Act and that the non-compliance or mistake did not affect the result of the election.

84.—All postal services (including all registration services) wholly within the State in relation to the issue and return of ballot papers at an election under this Act shall be performed by the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs without prepayment of the charges therefor, and all such charges shall be deemed, to be part of the Seanad returning officer's expenses and shall be defrayed accordingly,

85.—(1) The following provisions shall, notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act, have effect in relation to any Seanad general election held consequent on dissolution of Dáil Éireann occurring during the period beginning on the passing of this Act and ending on the publication under section 15 of this Act of the register of nominating bodies:

( a ) the register published in the Iris Oifigiúil under section 19 of the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act, 1937 (No. 43 of 1937), on the 25th day of March, 1947, shall be deemed to be the register of nominating bodies;

( b ) that register shall, for the purposes of sections 21 and 22 of this Act, be deemed to have been published on the passing of this Act;

( c ) the person who, immediately before the passing of this Act, stood appointed under section 5 of the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act, 1937 , shall be deemed to be the Seanad returning officer, but if that person is unable through illness, absence or other cause to fulfil his duties, such person as may be appointed in that behalf by the Minister shall be deemed to be the Seanad returning officer;

( d ) the Clerk of Seanad Éireann shall not later than thirty days after the dissolution of Dáil Éireann send to the Seanad returning officer a statement of the names, addresses and descriptions of the members of Seanad Éireann who are entitled to be members of the electorate at the Seanad general election;

( e ) the Clerk of Seanad Éireann shall be deemed to be an authorised person for the purpose of rule 8 of the rules contained in the First Schedule to this Act;

( f ) the Seanad returning officer shall, in lieu of retaining the duplicate certificate referred to in rule 27 of the rules contained in the First Schedule to this Act, send such duplicate to the Clerk of Seanad Eireann.

(2) The following provisions shall, notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act, have effect in relation to any Seanad bye-election held consequent on a notice of a casual vacancy sent or deemed to be sent to the Minister during the period beginning on the passing of this Act and ending on the publication under section 15 of this Act of the register of nominating bodies:—

( a ) the register published under section 19 of the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act, 1937 (No. 43 of 1937), on the 20th day of March, 1947, shall be deemed to be the register of nominating bodies;

( b ) that register shall, for the purposes of sections 21 and 22 of this Act, be deemed to have been published on the passing of this Act;

( c ) the person, who, immediately before the passing of this Act, stood appointed under section 5 of the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act, 1937 , shall be deemed to be the Seanad returning officer, but if that person is unable through illness, absence or other cause to fulfil his duties, such person as may be appointed in that behalf by the Minister shall be deemed to be the Seanad returning officer;

( d ) if the election is to fill an Oireachtas sub-panel casual vacancy and it is adjourned for the purpose of taking a poll—

(i) the Seanad returning officer shall forthwith on the adjournment inform the Clerk of Seanad Eireann in writing of the adjournment, and send to him a copy of the list of candidates, and the said Clerk shall, not later than four days after being so informed, furnish to the Seanad returning officer a statement of the names, addresses, and descriptions of all the members of Seanad Eireann who are then entitled to sit and vote in that House,

(ii) the said statement and the statement furnished by the Clerk of Dáil Éireann pursuant to subsection (1) of section 69 of this Act shall together be deemed to be the electoral roll constituted under the said section 69 for the election;

( e ) the Seanad returning officer shall, in lieu of retaining the duplicate certificate referred to in rule 23 of the rules contained in the Third Schedule to this Act, send such duplicate to the Clerk of Seanad Éireann.

(3) A notice sent under section 5 of the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) (Bye-Elections) Act, 1940 (No. 20 of 1940) during the six months ending on the passing of this Act shall be deemed to be a notice of a casual vacancy sent to the Minister under this Act on the passing thereof.

(4) Notwithstanding section 44 of this Act, a person shall not be a member of the electorate at a Seanad general election by reason only of the fact that he was a member of the council of the county of Dublin at any time before the passing of this Act.

FIRST SCHEDULE

RULES FOR CONDUCT OF SEANAD GENERAL ELECTIONS.

Issue of ballot papers.

1. On the day appointed for the issue of ballot papers the Seanad returning officer shall issue, in the manner directed in the following Rules, ballot papers to every elector named on the electoral roll for the election.

Attendance of candidates.

2. Every candidate shall be entitled to attend at the issue of ballot papers for the election, and the Seanad returning officer shall, on the request of any such candidate, inform him of the time and place at which the issue will be made.

Persons present at issue of ballot papers.

3. The Seanad returning officer and his assistants, any candidate and any agent appointed by a candidate, and no other person, except with the permission of the Seanad returning officer, may be present at the issue of ballot, papers.

Method of issuing ballot papers.

4. The Seanad returning officer shall issue ballot papers to each elector by doing or causing to be done in respect of such elector the following things in the following order, that is to say:—

( a ) the number, name, address, and description of the elector as stated in the electoral roll shall be called out;

( b ) the elector's said number shall be marked on the counterfoil of each ballot paper to be sent to him;

( c ) a mark shall be placed on the electoral roll opposite the elector's name thereon to indicate that ballot papers have been issued to such elector but without disclosing the identity of such ballot papers;

( d ) the ballot papers shall be marked on both sides with the official mark;

( e ) the number on the back of the ballot papers shall be marked upon the outside, and the elector's said number upon the inside, of an envelope (hereinafter referred to as the ballot paper envelope) in the prescribed form;

( f ) there shall be placed in an envelope (hereinafter referred to as the outer envelope) in the prescribed form addressed to the elector at his address stated in the electoral roll and marked upon the inside with the elector's said number, the following documents, that is to say:—

(i) a ballot paper for each panel, and

(ii) the said ballot paper envelope, and

(iii) an envelope (hereinafter referred to as the covering envelope) in the prescribed form addressed to the Seanad returning officer;

( g ) the outer envelope shall be effectually closed;

( h ) when the foregoing provisions of this Rule have been complied with in respect of all the electors whose names are on the electoral roll, all the said closed outer envelopes shall be collected, counted, and posted.

Issue of duplicate ballot papers.

5. Every request for the issue of duplicate ballot papers shall, when received by the Seanad returning officer, be endorsed by him with the day and hour of the receipt thereof by him and with a consecutive number, and duplicate ballot papers issued in pursuance of any such request shall be issued in accordance with the provisions of the foregoing Rule so far as the same are applicable save that, in lieu of the number on the electoral roll, there shall be marked on the counterfoils of such ballot papers the consecutive number endorsed on the request in pursuance of which such ballot papers are issued and that when such ballot papers have been issued the said request shall be disposed of in like manner as the marked copy of the electoral roll is required by these Rules to be disposed of.

Posting of ballot papers.

6. The Seanad returning officer shall post the said closed outer envelopes by delivering them to the nearest head post office, or such other office as may be arranged with the head postmaster, and the postmaster at such office shall stamp with the post office date stamp a form of receipt to be presented by the Seanad returning officer stating the number of envelopes so delivered, and shall immediately forward such envelopes by registered post for delivery to the persons to whom they are addressed.

Preservation of electoral roll and counterfoils.

7. The Seanad returning officer, as soon as practicable after the completion of the issue of the ballot papers and in the presence of such candidates and agents as are in attendance, shall make up in separate packets, sealed with his own seal and sealed by such of the said candidates or agents as desire to affix their seals, the marked copy of the electoral roll and the counterfoils of the ballot papers.

Procedure in connection with marking of ballot papers.

8. (1) The following procedure shall be followed in connection with the marking of ballot papers:—

( a ) the elector in the presence of an authorised person (no other person being present) shall do the following things in the following order:—

(i) he shall produce to the authorised person the following documents sent to him under these Rules:—

(I) the outer envelope,

(II) the ballot papers (as respects which the authorised person shall satisfy himself that they are five in number, that they are unmarked and as to whether they are or are not duplicate ballot papers),

(III) the covering envelope;

(IV) the ballot paper envelope,

(ii) the elector shall mark the number which is on the back of the ballot papers on a form of declaration of identity in the prescribed form furnished to him by the authorised person and which, in ease such ballot papers are duplicates, shall be marked by the authorised person with the word 'duplicate'

(iii) the elector shall make and complete the said form of declaration of identity,

(iv) the elector shall hand the declaration of identity to the authorised person who, if he is satisfied that the person who made it is the person to whom the outer envelope is addressed, shall sign it and return it to the elector,

(v) the elector shall mark one or more than one of such ballot papers,

(vi) the elector shall place the ballot papers, whether marked or unmarked, in the ballot paper envelope,

(vii) the elector shall place the ballot paper envelope and the declaration of identity in the covering envelope and shall effectually close the covering envelope,

(viii) the elector shall hand the covering envelope to the authorised person,

( b ) the authorised person, on being handed the covering envelope, shall affix thereto in the prescribed manner a label in the prescribed form and, if he is satisfied that it is proper to sign the certificate appearing on the label, shall sign that certificate and shall then return the covering envelope to the elector.

(2) For the purposes of this Rule, each of the following persons shall be an authorised person:

( a ) the Seanad returning officer,

( b ) the Clerk of Dáil Eireann,

( c ) he county registrar for the county or county borough in which is situate the premises the address of which stated on the outer envelope,

( d ) the sheriff (if any) for the said county or county borough,

( e ) the under-sheriff (if any) for the said county or county borough,

( f ) the superintendent of the Garda Síochána in whose district is situate the said premises or, where the superintendent is unable through illness, absence or other cause to perform his duties, such inspector of the Garda Síochána performing duties in that district as the superintendent may nominate.

Seanad ballot box.

9. The Seanad returning officer shall provide a ballot box marked "Seanad ballot box" for the reception of the covering envelopes when returned by the voters, and on the completion of the issue of the ballot papers the Seanad returning officer shall show such ballot box open and empty to the candidates and agents (if any) present, and shall seal such ballot box with his seal and shall make provision for the safe custody of such ballot box.

Disposal of covering envelopes on receipt.

10. The Seanad returning officer shall forthwith place unopened in the Seanad ballot box every covering envelope received by him before the close of the poll and shall seal up unopened in a separate package all covering envelopes received by him after the close of the poll and shall also seal up unopened in a separate package all outer envelopes returned to him as undelivered.

Notice of counting of votes.

11. Not less than three days before the close of the poll, the Seanad returning officer shall send by post to every candidate at his address as stated in the panels of candidates notice in writing of the time and place at which he will open the Seanad ballot box and count the votes.

Opening of Seanad ballot box.

12. As soon as conveniently may be after the close of the poll, the Seanad returning officer shall open the Seanad ballot box and count the votes.

Persons present at counting of votes.

13. The Seanad returning officer, and his assistants, any candidate and any agent appointed by a candidate, and no other person, except with the permission of the Seanad returning officer, may be present at the opening of the Seanad ballot box or the counting of the votes.

Procedure on opening of Seanad ballot box.

14. When the Seanad ballot box has been opened the Seanad returning officer shall do the, following things:—

( a ) take all the covering envelopes out of the Seanad ballot box and count and note the number thereof;

( b ) examine separately each such covering envelope and mark with the word "rejected" any such covering envelope—

(i) which is not registered,

(ii) to which there is not affixed in the prescribed manner the label provided for by Rule 8 of these Rules bearing a certificate duly completed by an authorised person within the meaning of that Rule,

(iii) which is open, or

(iv) which in his opinion has been opened after it was first closed, or has been attempted to be opened after it was closed;

( c ) open each such covering envelope not marked as aforesaid and segregate any of those envelopes containing a declaration of identity marked "duplicate";

( d ) take up separately each of the said covering envelopes not so segregated and examine the declaration of identity therein and compare the number on such declaration with the number on the ballot paper envelope in such covering envelope;

( e ) if the said numbers agree and the declaration of identity is found to be duly completed and made, he shall place the declaration of identity and the ballot paper envelope in separate receptacles;

( f ) if he is not satisfied that the declaration of identity has been duly completed and made, he shall mark the declaration of identity with the words "vote rejected" and shall attach thereto the ballot paper envelope, without opening such envelope, or if there is no such envelope, the ballot papers or paper;

( g ) if he finds that the numbers on the declaration of identity and on the ballot paper envelope do not agree, or if the envelope has no number on it, he shall open the envelope, and if there are five ballot papers therein and the number thereon agrees with the number on the declaration of identity, he shall place the ballot papers respectively in the appropriate one of the special receptacles provided by him for ballot papers;

( h ) where there are five ballot papers and the number on the ballot papers does not agree with the number on the declaration of identity, he shall replace the ballot papers in their envelope, if any, attach such envelope or ballot papers (as the case may be) to the declaration of identity, and endorse the declaration of identity 'vote rejected';

( i ) if the number of ballot papers is not five, he shall replace the ballot papers or paper in their or its envelope (if any), attach such envelope or ballot papers or paper (as the case may be) to the declaration of identity and endorse the declaration of identity "vote rejected";

( j ) where a declaration of identity does not appear to accompany the ballot paper envelope, he shall open the ballot paper envelope, and if it is found to contain the declaration of identity, he shall deal with such declaration and ballot paper envelope in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this Rule;

( k ) he shall mark with the word 'rejected' every declaration of identity which is not accompanied by a ballot paper or which does not bear the number of a ballot paper and every ballot paper which is not accompanied by a declaration of identity;

( l ) when all the said covering envelopes not so segregated have been dealt with under the foregoing provisions of this Rule, he shall take up separately each of the said covering envelopes segregated as containing a declaration of identity marked 'duplicate', examine the declaration of identity therein and ascertain whether a declaration of identity in respect of the same person has or has not been previously examined under this Rule;

( m ) if a declaration of identity in respect of the same person has been previously examined under this Rule, he shall mark the declaration marked 'duplicate' with the words 'vote rejected' and shall attach thereto the ballot paper envelope, without opening such envelope, or, if there is no such envelope, the ballot papers or paper;

( n ) if a declaration of identity in respect of the same person has not been previously examined under this Rule, he shall deal with the declaration marked 'duplicate' and the ballot paper envelope and ballot papers or paper accompanying the same in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this Rule other than the two last preceding paragraphs thereof.

Ballot papers or declaration not in proper envelope.

15. Where ballot papers and a declaration of identity are received together, such ballot papers shall not be rejected solely on the ground that such ballot papers are not in the ballot paper envelope, such declaration is in the ballot paper envelope or the ballot paper envelope is not closed.

Rejection of covering envelope.

16. The Seanad returning officer shall show any covering envelope which he proposes to reject to the candidates and agents (if any) present, and if an objection is made by any such candidate or agent to his decision shall add to the endorsement the words "rejection objected to".

Separation of rejected covering envelopes.

17. The Seanad returning officer shall keep all rejected covering envelopes separate from all other documents.

Rejection of declarations of identity.

18. The Seanad returning officer shall show any declaration of identity which he proposes to reject on the ground that it has not been properly completed and made or that it does not bear the number of a ballot paper to the candidates and agents (if any) present, and if an objection is made by any such candidate or agent to his decision shall add to the endorsement the words "rejection objected to".

Separation of rejected declarations.

19. The Seanad returning officer shall keep all rejected declarations, with the attached envelopes or ballot papers as the case may be, separate from other documents.

20. Opening of ballot paper envelopes.

(1) When all the covering envelopes (other than covering envelopes rejected) in the Seanad ballot box have been opened and their contents dealt with under the preceding Rules, the Seanad returning officer shall open each unopened ballot paper envelope.

(2) When such envelopes have been opened, the Seanad returning officer shall, as respects each envelope, ascertain whether it contains five ballot papers and, if the number of ballot papers in any envelope is not five, he shall replace the ballot papers or paper in the envelope and mark them "rejected".

(3) As respects each such envelope which contains five ballot papers, the Seanad returning officer shall compare the number on the envelope with the number on the ballot papers and if the number on the envelope and the number on the ballot papers agree, he shall place the ballot papers respectively in the appropriate one of the special receptacles provided by him for ballot papers, but if the number on the envelope and the number on the ballot papers do not agree, the Seanad returning officer shall fasten such ballot papers and such envelope together and mark them "rejected".

Preservation of covering envelopes, declarations, ballot papers, etc.

21. As soon as the Seanad returning officer has completed the placing of the ballot papers in the special receptacles, he shall seal up in separate packets (1) any rejected covering envelopes; (2) the declarations of identity which accompanied any ballot papers duly accepted; (3) any rejected declarations of identity, and (4) any rejected ballot papers; in the two latter cases with the envelopes (if any) attached thereto.

Counting the ballot papers.

22. When the Seanad returning officer has complied with the foregoing Rules of this Schedule, he shall, as respects each of the special receptacles provided by him for ballot papers, mix together thoroughly the ballot papers therein and shall, in respect of each panel, count, in accordance with the Rules contained in the Second Schedule to this Act, the votes recorded on ballot papers relating to such panel.

Record of covering envelopes received.

23. As soon as conveniently may be after the counting of the votes is completed, the Seanad returning officer shall, as respects each elector from whom he received a covering envelope, place a mark on a copy of the electoral roll (which copy the Seanad returning officer shall not show to any person save by the authority of a court of justice) and, in the case of an elector from whom he received a covering envelope containing no ballot paper, one ballot paper only or a number, other than five, of ballot papers, the mark shall be a distinctive mark indicating that fact.

Rejection of invalid ballot papers.

24. The Seanad returning officer shall endorse "rejected" on any ballot paper which he rejects as invalid and if an objection be made by any candidate or agent to his decision rejecting the ballot paper, he shall add to the said endorsement "rejection objected".

Continuity of proceedings.

25. The Seanad returning officer shall, so far as practicable, proceed continuously with the proceedings under these Rules subsequent to the opening of the special post office receptacles and with the counting of the votes but may at any time suspend such proceedings or counting for refreshment, night-time or other reason appearing to him to be sufficient for such period as he thinks proper, and whenever he does so suspend such proceedings or such counting, he shall take all proper precautions for the security of the ballot papers, envelopes, votes, and other documents relating to the election.

Declaration of secrecy.

26. The Seanad returning officer and each of his assistants taking part in any of the proceedings under these Rules or the counting of the votes and every candidate and agent attending any of the said proceedings or the said counting shall, before so taking part or so attending, sign an undertaking in the prescribed form to preserve the secrecy of the voting.

Certificate of result of the poll.

27. As soon as the counting of the votes is completed, the Seanad returning officer shall prepare in duplicate in respect of each panel a certificate in the prescribed form setting out the names of the candidates elected from such panel, the total number of votes given for each candidate (whether elected or not), every transfer of values made under this Act, and the total value credited to each candidate at the end of the count at which each such transfer took place, and such other matters as may be prescribed, and the Seanad returning officer shall then sign the said duplicate certificate and shall send one such duplicate to the Clerk of Dáil Eireann and shall retain the other.

Publication of result of election.

28. The Seanad returning officer shall also prepare and publish in the Iris Oifigiúil a statement in the prescribed form of the names of the candidates elected from each panel.

Preservation of ballot papers

29. Upon the completion of the counting of the votes, the Seanad returning officer shall seal up in separate packets the counted ballot papers and the ballot papers rejected as invalid,

Retention of documents by Seanad returning officer.

30. The Seanad returning officer shall retain for six months from the close of the poll the several sealed packets of the marked copy of the electoral roll, the counterfoils of the ballot papers, the outer envelopes returned as undelivered, the accepted declarations of identity, the rejected ballot papers, the counted ballot papers, and the invalid ballot papers, and shall at the end of the said period of six months destroy all the said sealed packets unless an election tribunal has otherwise ordered.

Inspection of sealed packets.

31. No person shall be allowed to inspect any of the said sealed packets retained by the Seanad returning officer nor any of the contents thereof gave under and in accordance with an order of an election tribunal.

Authority for inspection of sealed packets.

32. An election tribunal may authorise the inspection by any person of the contents of any of the said sealed packets as justice may require, but on any such inspection care shall be taken that the mode in which any particular elector has voted shall not be discovered until he has been proved to the satisfaction of an election tribunal to have voted and such tribunal has declared his vote to be invalid.

Compliance with orders of election tribunal.

33. The Seanad returning officer shall comply with every order made by an election tribunal in relation to the inspection, production, and disposal of the said sealed packets.

Conclusiveness of production by Seanad returning officer.

34. Where an order is made by an election tribunal for the production by the Seanad returning officer of any document or packet of documents in his possession under these Rules and relating to a specified election, the production by the Seanad returning officer of such document or packet of documents in pursuance of such order shall be conclusive evidence that such document or packet of documents relates to the said specified election and the endorsement made by the Seanad returning officer in pursuance of these Rules on any such document or packet of documents shall he conclusive evidence that such document or packet is what it is stated in such endorsement to be.

Evidence of voting.

35. The production by the Seanad returning officer of a ballot paper purporting to have been used at any election conducted under these Rules and of a counterfoil marked with the same printed number and having a number marked thereon in writing shall be prima facie evidence that the person who voted by such ballot paper was the person whose number on the electoral roll relating to such election was the same as the number so marked on such counterfoil.

Endorsement of packets by Seanad returning officer.

36. Whenever the Seanad returning officer is required by these Rules to seal up any documents in a separate packet, he shall endorse on such packet a statement of the number and character of such documents and the election to which they relate.

Election tribunal.

37. In these Rules, the expression "election tribunal" means a court lawfully having cognisance of petitions complaining of undue return or undue election at the relevant election.

SECOND SCHEDULE

RULES FOR COUNTING OF VOTES.

Rejection of invalid ballot papers.

1. The Seanad returning officer shall reject any ballot papers that are invalid.

The order of preferences.

2. The Seanad returning officer shall then ascertain the number of first preferences recorded on the ballot papers for each candidate, and shall then arrange the candidates on a list (hereinafter called "the order of preferences") in the order of the number of first preferences recorded for each candidate, beginning with the candidate for whom the greatest number of first preferences is recorded. If the number of first preferences recorded for any two or more candidates (hereinafter called "equal candidates") is equal, the Seanad returning officer shall ascertain the number of second preferences recorded on all the ballot papers for each of the equal candidates, and shall arrange the equal candidates as amongst themselves on the order of preferences in the order of the second preferences recorded for each such candidate, beginning with the candidate for whom the greatest number of second preferences is recorded. If the number of first and second preferences recorded for any two or more equal candidates is equal, the Seanad returning officer shall, in like manner, ascertain the number of third preferences recorded on all the ballot papers for each of such last-mentioned equal candidates, and arrange such candidates on the order of preferences accordingly, and so on until all the candidates are arranged in order on the order of preferences If the number of first, second, third, and all other preferences recorded for any two or more equal candidates is equal the Seanad returning officer shall determine by lot the order in which such candidates are to be arranged on the order of preferences.

Arrangement of ballot papers in parcels.

3. The Seanad returning officer shall then arrange the valid ballot papers in parcels, according to the first preferences recorded for each candidate.

Value of each ballot paper.

4. For the purpose of facilitating the processes prescribed by these Rules, each valid ballot paper shall be deemed to be of the value of one thousand.

Crediting values of first preferences.

5. The Seanad returning officer shall then count the number of ballot papers in each parcel, and in accordance with the preceding Rule credit each candidate with the value of the valid ballot papers on which a first preference has been recorded for such candidate.

Ascertainment of quota.

6. The Seanad returning officer shall then add together the values in all the parcels and divide the full total value by a number exceeding by one the number of vacancies to be filled. The result increased by one, any fractional remainder being disregarded, shall be the value sufficient to secure the return of a candidate. This value is in this Schedule called the "quota".

Candidates with quota deemed elected.

7. If, at the end of any count or at the end of the transfer of any parcel or sub-parcel of an excluded candidate or of a candidate deemed not to be a continuing candidate, the value credited to a candidate is equal to or greater than the quota, that candidate shall, subject to the provisions of the subsequent Rules, be deemed to be elected.

Transfer of surplus.

8. (1) It at the end of any count the value credited to a candidate (in this Rule referred to as the elected candidate) is greater than the quota, the surplus shall be transferred to the continuing candidate or candidates indicated on the voting papers in the parcel or sub-parcel of the elected candidate according to the next available preferences recorded thereon, and the following provisions shall apply to the making of such transfer:

( a ) if the value credited to the elected candidate arises out of original votes only, the Seanad returning officer shall examine all the ballot papers in the parcel of the elected candidate and shall arrange the transferable papers therein in sub-parcels according to the next available preferences recorded thereon and shall make a separate sub-parcel of the non-transferable papers;

( b ) if the value credited to the elected candidate arises partly out of original and partly out of transferred votes or out of transferred votes only, the Seanad returning officer shall examine the ballot papers contained in the sub-parcel last received by the elected candidate and shall arrange the transferable papers therein in further sub-parcels according to the next available preferences recorded thereon and shall make a separate sub-parcel of the non-transferable papers;

( c ) in either of the cases referred to in the foregoing subparagraphs (a) and (b) the Seanad returning officer shall ascertain the number of ballot papers and their total value in each sub-parcel of transferable papers and in the sub-parcel of non-transferable papers;

( d ) if the total value of the papers in all the sub-parcels of transferable papers is equal to or less than the said surplus, the Seanad returning officer shall transfer each sub-parcel of transferable papers to the continuing candidate indicated thereon as the voter's next available preference, each paper being transferred at the value at which it was received by the elected candidate, and (where the said total value is less than the said surplus) the non-transferable papers shall be set aside as not effective, at a value which is equal to the difference between the said surplus and the said total value;

( e ) if the total value of the papers in all the sub-parcels of transferable papers is greater than the said surplus, the Seanad returning officer shall transfer each paper in such sub-parcel of transferable papers to the continuing candidate indicated thereon as the voter's next available preference, and the value at which each paper shall be transferred shall be ascertained by dividing the surplus by the total number of transferable papers, fractional remainders being disregarded except that the consequential loss of value shall be noted on the result sheet;

( f ) a surplus which arises on the completion of any count shall be dealt with before a surplus which arises at a subsequent count;

( g ) when two or more surpluses arise out of the same count, the largest shall be first dealt with and the others shall be dealt with in the order of their magnitude,

( h ) if two or more candidates have an equal surplus arising out of the same count, the surplus of the candidate credited with the greatest value at the earliest count at which the values credited to those candidates were unequal shall be first dealt with, and where the values credited to such candidates were equal at all counts, the Seanad returning officer shall deal first with the surplus of the candidate who is highest in the order of preferences.

(2) If two or more candidates are each credited with a value of votes equal to or greater than the quota, the candidate credited with the greatest value of votes shall be deemed to have been elected before a candidate credited with a lesser value of votes.

(3) Whenever the number of candidates on a sub-panel who have been deemed to be elected is equal to the maximum number of candidates that could at that time be elected in respect of such sub-panel, no further candidate shall be deemed to be elected in respect of that sub-panel and the values of the votes of the remaining candidates on such sub-panel shall be transferred before any other transfer is made.

(4) If the values of votes credited to two or more candidates on a sub-panel are equal and all such candidates may not by reason of paragraph (3) of this Rule be deemed to be elected, the first of such candidates to be deemed to be elected shall be the candidate credited with the greatest value of votes at the earliest count, beginning with the first, at which the values of votes credited to such candidates were unequal. If the values of votes are equal at all counts, the candidate highest in order of preferences shall be deemed to be credited with the greatest value of votes.

The values of votes of the remaining candidates shall then be transferred in the same manner as in the case of a transfer on the exclusion of a candidate, the values of votes of the candidate credited with the greatest number of votes being transferred first.

Exclusion of candidates.

9. (1) If at the end of any count no candidate has a surplus and one or more vacancies remain unfilled, the Seanad returning officer shall exclude the candidate (in this Rule referred to as the excluded candidate) then credited with the lowest value and shall transfer his papers to the continuing candidates respectively indicated on the ballot papers in the parcel or sub-parcels of the excluded candidate as the voter's next available preference, and shall credit such continuing candidates with the value of the papers so transferred, and the following provisions shall apply to the making of such transfer:

( a ) the parcel containing original votes shall first be transferred, the transfer value of each paper being one thousand;

( b ) the sub-parcels containing transferred votes shall then be transferred in the order in which and at the value of which the excluded candidate obtained them;

( c ) for the purpose of determining whether a candidate is a continuing candidate the transfer of each parcel or sub-parcel shall be regarded as a separate count;

( d ) in the transfer of each parcel or sub-parcel, a separate sub-parcel shall be made of the non-transferable papers which shall be set aside at the value at which the excluded candidate obtained them;

( e ) if, when a candidate has to be excluded under this Rule, two or more candidates are each then credited with the same value and are lowest regard shall be had to the total value of original votes credited to each of those candidates and the candidate with the smallest such total value shall be excluded, and where such total values are equal regard shall be had to the total value of votes credited to each of those candidates at the earliest count at which they had unequal values, and the candidates with the smallest such total value at that count shall be excluded, and if those candidates were each credited with the same total value of votes at all counts that one of those candidates who is lowest in the order of preferences shall be excluded.

(2) A candidate on a sub-panel shall not be excluded under this Rule if the number of candidates deemed to be elected to the sub-panel plus the number of continuing candidates thereon, if such candidate were excluded, would be less than the minimum number required to be elected from the sub-panel.

(3) If the value of votes credited to two or more candidates is equal, the candidate first to be excluded shall be the candidate credited with the smallest value of votes at the earliest count, beginning with the first, at which the values of votes were unequal, and if the values of votes were equal at all counts, the candidate lowest in the order of preferences shall be first excluded.

Disposal of papers on transfer.

10. On every transfer made under these Rules, each sub-parcel of papers transferred shall be placed on top of the parcel or sub-parcel (if any) of papers of the candidate to whom the transfer is made and that candidate shall be credited with the value ascertained in accordance with these rules of the papers so transferred to him.

Filling the last vacancies.

11. (1) If at the end of any count the number of candidates deemed to be elected is equal to the number of vacancies to be filled, no further transfer shall be made.

(2) When at the end of any count the number of continuing candidates is equal to the number of vacancies remaining unfilled, the continuing candidates shall thereupon be deemed to be elected.

(3) When only one vacancy remains unfilled and the value credited to some one continuing candidate exceeds the total of the values credited to the other continuing candidates together with any surplus not transferred, that candidate shall thereupon be deemed to be elected.

(4) When the last vacancies can he filled under this Rule, no further transfer shall be made.

Result sheet.

12. At the end of every count the Seanad returning officer shall record on a result sheet in the prescribed form the total of the values credited to each candidate at the end of that count and also the value of the non-transferable papers not effective on that count and the loss of value on that count owing to disregard of fractions.

Precautions for preservation of secrecy.

13. While the votes are being counted the ballot papers shall so far as it is practicable be kept face upwards and all proper precautions shall be taken by the Seanad returning officer for preventing the numbers on the backs of the ballot papers being seen.

Recount.

14. (1) Any candidate or his agent may, at the conclusion of any count, request the Seanad returning officer to re-examine and recount all or any of the ballot papers dealt with during that count, and the Seanad returning officer shall forthwith re-examine and recount accordingly the ballot papers indicated.

(2) The Seanad returning officer may at his discretion recount ballot papers either once or more often in any case in which he is not satisfied as to the accuracy of any count.

(3) Nothing in this Rule shall make it obligatory on the Seanad returning officer to recount the same parcel of ballot papers more than once.

Definitions.

15. In these Rules—

(1) the expression "continuing candidate" means any candidate not deemed to be elected and not excluded;

(2) the expression "first preference" means the figure standing alone, the expression "second preference" means the figure "2" standing alone-in succession to the figure "1", and the expression "third preference" means the figure "3" standing alone in succession to the figures "1" and "2" set opposite the name of any candidate, and so on;

(3) the expression "next available preference" means a second or subsequent preference recorded in consecutive numerical order for a continuing candidate, the preference next in order on the ballot paper for candidates already deemed to be elected or excluded being ignored;

(4) the expression "transferable paper" means a ballot paper on which, following a first preference, a second or subsequent preference is recorded in numerical order for a continuing candidate:

(5) the expression "non-transferable paper" means a ballot paper—

( a ) on which no second or subsequent preference is recorded for a continuing candidate; or

( b ) on which the names of two or more candidates (whether continuing or not) are marked with the same number, and are next in order of preference; or

( c ) on which the name of the candidate next in order of preference (whether continuing or not) is marked by a number not following consecutively after some other number on the voting paper or by two or more numbers; or

( d ) which is void for uncertainty;

(6) the expression "original vote" in regard to any candidate means a vote derived from a ballot paper on which a first preference is recorded for that candidate.

(7) the expression "transferred vote" in regard to any candidate means a vote derived from a ballot paper on which a second or subsequent preference is recorded for that candidate;

(8) the expression "surplus" means the number by which the total value of the votes, original and transferred, credited to any candidate exceeds the quota;

(9) the expression "count" means (as the context may require) either—

( a ) all the operations involved in the counting of the first preferences recorded for candidates; or

( b ) all the operations involved in the transfer of the surplus of an elected candidate-; or

( c ) all the operations involved in the transfer of the votes of an excluded candidate; or

( d ) the transfer in pursuance of these Rules of the papers of a candidate deemed not to be a continuing candidate;

(10) the expression "deemed to be elected" means deemed to be elected for the purpose of counting, but without prejudice to the declaration of the result of the election;

(11) the expression "determine by lot" means determine in accordance with the following directions, that is to say:—

the names of the candidates concerned having been written on similar slips of paper, and the slips having been folded so as to prevent identification and mixed and drawn at random, the candidates concerned shall as amongst themselves be arranged on the order of preferences in the order in which the slips containing their names are drawn, beginning with the candidate whose name is on the slip drawn first.

THIRD SCHEDULE

RULES FOR CONDUCT OF SEANAD BYE-ELECTION FOR OIREACHTAS SUB-PANEL CASUAL VACANCY.

Issue of ballot papers.

1. On the day appointed for the issue of ballot papers the Seanad returning officer shall issue, in the manner directed in the following Rules a ballot paper to every elector named on the electoral roll for the election.

Attendance of candidates.

2. Every candidate shall be entitled to attend at the issue of ballot papers for the election, and the Seanad returning officer shall, on the request of any such candidate, inform him of the time and place at which the issue will be made,

Persons present at issue of ballot papers.

3. The Seanad returning officer and his assistants, any candidate and any agent appointed by a candidate, and no other person, except with the permission of the Seanad returning officer, may be present at the issue of ballot papers.

Method of issuing ballot papers.

4. The Seanad returning officer shall issue a ballot paper to each elector by doing or causing to be done in respect of such elector the following things in the following order, that is to say:

( a ) the number, name, address, and description of the elector as stated in the electoral roll shall be called out;

( b ) the elector's said number shall be marked on the counterfoil of the ballot paper to be sent to him;

( c ) a mark shall be placed on the electoral roll opposite the elector's name thereon to indicate that a ballot paper has been issued to such elector, but without disclosing the identity of such ballot paper;

( d ) the ballot paper shall be marked on both sides with the official mark;

( e ) the number on the back of the ballot paper shall be marked upon a form of declaration of identity And upon an envelope (hereinafter referred to as the ballot paper envelope) in the prescribed form;

( f ) there shall be placed in an envelope (hereinafter referred to as the outer envelope) in the prescribed form addressed to the elector at his address stated in the electoral roll the following documents, that is to say:—

(i) a ballot paper, and

(ii) the said form of declaration of identity, and

(iii) an envelope (hereinafter referred to as the covering envelope) in the prescribed form addressed to the Seanad returning officer, and

(iv) the said ballot paper envelope;

( g ) the outer envelope shall be effectually closed;

( h ) when the foregoing provisions of this Rule have been complied with in respect of all the electors whose names are on the electoral roll, all the said closed outer envelopes shall be collected, counted, and posted.

Issue of duplicate ballot papers.

5. Every request for the issue of a duplicate ballot paper shall, when received by the Seanad returning officer, be endorsed by him with the day and hour of the receipt thereof by him and with a consecutive number, and every duplicate ballot paper issued in pursuance of any such request shall be issued in accordance with the provisions of the foregoing Rule so far as the same are applicable save that, in lieu of the number on the electoral roll, there shall be marked on the counterfoil of such ballot paper the consecutive number endorsed on the request in pursuance of which such ballot paper is issued and that when such ballot paper has been issued the said request shall be disposed of in like manner as the marked copy of the electoral roll is required by these Rules to be disposed

Posting of ballot papers.

6. The Seanad returning officer shall post the said closed outer envelopes by delivering them to the nearest head post office, or such other office as may be arranged with the head post-master, and the post-master at such office shall stamp with the post office date stamp a form of receipt to be presented by the Seanad returning officer stating the, number of envelopes so delivered, and shall immediately forward such envelopes by registered post for delivery to the persons to whom they are addressed.

Preservation of electoral roll and counterfoils.

7. The Seanad returning officer, as soon as practicable after the completion of the issue of the ballot papers and in the presence of such candidates and agents as are in attendance, shall make up in separate packets, sealed with his own seal and sealed by such of the said candidates or agents as desire to affix their seals, the marked copy of the electoral roll and the counterfoils of the ballot papers.

Seanad ballot box.

8. The Seanad returning officer shall provide a ballot box marked "Seanad ballot box" for the reception of the covering envelopes when returned by the voters, and on the completion of the issue of the ballot papers the Seanad returning officer shall show such ballot box open and empty to the candidates and agents (if any) present, and shall seal such ballot box with his seal and shall make provision for the safe custody of such ballot box.

Disposal of covering envelopes on receipt.

9. The Seanad returning officer shall forthwith place unopened in the Seanad ballot box every covering envelope received by him before the close of the Poll and shall seal up unopened in a separate package all covering envelopes received by him after the close of the poll and shall also seal up unopened in a separate package all outer envelopes returned to him as undelivered,

Notice of counting of votes.

10. Not less than three days before, the close of the poll, the Seanad returning officer shall send by post to every candidate at his address as stated in the list of candidates notice in writing of the time place at which he will open the Seanad ballot box and count the votes.

Opening of Seanad ballot box.

11. As soon as conveniently may be after the close of the poll the Seanad returning officer shall open the Seanad ballot box and count the votes.

Persons present at counting of votes

12. The Seanad returning officer and his assistants, any candidate and any agent appointed by a candidate, and no other person, except with the permission of the Seanad returning officer, may be present at the opening of the Seanad ballot box or the counting of the votes.

Procedure on opening of Seanad box.

13. When the Seanad ballot box has been opened the Seanad returning officer shall do the following things;

( a ) take all the covering envelopes out of the Seanad ballot box and count and note the number thereof;

( b ) open each such covering envelope and segregate any of those envelopes containing a declaration of identity issued as a duplicate form of declaration of identity;

( c ) take up separately each of the said covering envelopes not so segregated, examine the declaration of identity therein and compare the number on such declaration with the number on the ballot paper envelope in such covering envelope;

( d ) if the said numbers agree and the declaration of identity is found to be duly completed and made, he shall place the declaration of identity and the ballot paper envelope in separate receptacles;

( e ) if he is not satisfied that the declaration of identity has been duly completed and made, he shall endorse the declaration of identity "vote rejected", and shall attach thereto the ballot paper envelope, without opening such envelope, or if there is not such envelope, the ballot paper;

( f ) if he finds that the numbers on the declaration of identity and on the ballot paper envelope do not agree, or if the envelope has no number on it, he shall open the envelope, and if the number on the ballot paper agrees with the number on the declaration of identity, he shall place the ballot paper in the special receptacle provided by him for ballot papers;

( g ) where the number on the ballot paper does not agree with the number on the declaration of identity, he shall replace the ballot paper in its envelope, if any, attach such envelope or ballot paper (as the case may be) to the declaration of identity, and endorse the declaration of identity "vote rejected".

( h ) where a declaration of identity does not appear to accompany the ballot paper envelope, he shall open the ballot paper envelope, and if it is found to contain the declaration of identity, he shall deal with such declaration and ballot paper envelope in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this Rule;

( i ) he shall mark with the word "rejected" every declaration of identity which is not accompanied by a ballot paper, and every ballot paper which is not accompanied by a declaration of identity;

( j ) when all the said covering envelopes not so segregated have been dealt with under the foregoing provisions of this Rule, he shall take up separately each of the said covering envelopes segregated as containing a declaration of identity issued as a duplicate form of declaration of identity, examine the declaration of identity therein (hereinafter referred to as the duplicate declaration) and ascertain whether a declaration of identity in respect of the same person has or has not been previously examined under this Rule:

( k ) if a declaration of identity in respect of the same person has been previously examined under this Rule, he shall mark the duplicate declaration "vote rejected" and shall attach thereto the ballot paper envelope, without opening such envelope, or, if there is no such envelope, the ballot paper;

( l ) if a declaration of identity in respect of the same person has not been previously examined under this Rule, he shall deal with the duplicate declaration and the ballot paper envelope and ballot paper accompanying the same in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this Rule other than the two last preceding paragraphs thereof.

Ballot paper and declaration not in proper envelopes.

14. Where a ballot paper and a declaration of identity are received together and the numbers on such ballot paper and on such declaration agree, such ballot paper shall not be rejected solely on the ground that such ballot paper and such declaration were not placed in the proper envelopes or that any of such envelopes were not fastened.

Rejection of declarations of identity.

15. The Seanad returning officer shall show any declaration of identity which he proposes to reject on the ground that it has not been properly completed and made to the candidates and agents (if any) present, and if an objection is made by any such candidate or agent to his decision shall add to the endorsement the words "rejection objected to".

Separation of rejected declarations.

16. The Seanad returning officer shall keep all rejected declarations, with the attached envelopes or ballot papers as the case may be, separate from other documents.

Opening of ballot paper envelopes.

17. When all the covering envelopes in the Seanad ballot box have been opened and their contents dealt with under the preceding Rules, the Seanad returning officer shall open each unopened ballot paper envelope and compare the number on the envelope with the number on the ballot paper, and if the number on the envelope and the number on the ballot paper agree, he shall place the ballot paper in the special receptacle provided by him for ballot papers, but if the number on the envelope and the number on the ballot paper do not agree, the Seanad returning officer shall fasten such ballot paper and such envelope together and mark them "rejected".

Preservation of declarations, ballot papers, etc.

18. As soon as the Seanad returning officer has completed the placing of the ballot papers in the said special receptacle, he shall seal up in separate packets (1) the declarations of identity which accompanied any ballot papers duly accepted; (2) any rejected declarations of identity; and (3) any rejected ballot papers; in the two latter cases with the envelopes (if any) attached thereto.

Counting the ballot papers.

19. When the Seanad returning officer has complied with the foregoing Rules of this Schedule, he shall mix together thoroughly the ballot papers contained in the special receptacle provided by him for ballot papers and shall count, in accordance with the Rules contained in the Second Schedule to this Act, the votes recorded on such ballot papers.

Rejection of invalid ballot papers.

20. The Seanad returning officer shall endorse "rejected" on any ballot paper which he rejects as invalid and if an objection be made by any candidate or agent to his decision rejecting the ballot paper, he shall add to the said endorsement "rejection objected to".

Continuity of proceedings.

21. The Seanad returning officer shall, so far as practicable, proceed continuously with the proceedings under these Rules subsequent to the opening of the Seanad ballot box and with the counting of the votes but may at any time suspend such proceedings or counting for refreshment, night-time, or other reason appearing to him to be sufficient for such period as he thinks proper, and whenever he does so suspend such proceedings or such counting, he shall take all proper precautions for the security of the ballot papers, envelopes, votes, and other documents relating to the election.

Declaration of secrecy.

22. The Seanad returning officer and each of his assistants taking part in any of the proceedings under these Rules or the counting of the votes and every candidate and agent attending any of the said proceedings or the said counting shall, before so taking part or so attending, sign an undertaking in the prescribed form to preserve the secrecy of the voting.

Certificate of result of the poll.

23. As soon as the counting of the votes is completed, the Seanad returning officer shall prepare in duplicate a certificate in the prescribed form setting out the name of the candidate elected, the total number of votes given for each candidate (whether elected or not), every transfer of values made under this Act, and the total value credited to each candidate at the end of the count at which each such transfer took place, and such other matters as may be prescribed, and the Seanad returning officer shall then sign the said duplicate certificate and shall send one such duplicate to the Clerk of Dáil Eireann and shall retain the other.

Publication of result of election.

24. The Seanad returning officer shall also prepare and publish in the Iris Oifigiúil a statement in the prescribed form of the name of the candidate elected.

Preservation of ballot papers.

25. Upon the completion of the counting of the votes, the Seanad returning officer shall seal up in separate packets the counted ballot papers and the ballot papers rejected as invalid.

Retention of documents by Seanad returning officer.

26. The Seanad returning officer shall retain for six months from the close of the poll the several sealed packets of the marked copy of the electoral roll, the counterfoils of the ballot papers, the covering envelopes received after the close of the poll, the outer envelopes returned as undelivered, the accepted declarations of identity, the rejected declarations of identity, the rejected ballot papers, the counted ballot papers, and the invalid ballot papers and shall at the end of the said period of six months destroy all the said sealed packets unless an election tribunal has otherwise ordered.

Inspection of sealed packets.

27. No person shall be allowed to inspect any of the said sealed packets retained by the Seanad returning officer nor any of the contents thereof save under and in accordance with an order of an election tribunal.

Authority for inspection of sealed packets.

28. An election tribunal may authorise the inspection by any person of the contents of any of the said sealed packets as justice may require, but on any such inspection care shall be taken that the mode in which in any particular elector has voted shall not be discovered until he has been proved to the satisfaction of an election tribunal to have voted and such tribunal has declared, his vote to be invalid.

Compliance with orders of election tribunal.

29. The Seanad returning officer shall comply with every order made by an election tribunal in relation to the inspection, production, and disposal of the said sealed packets.

Conclusiveness of production by Seanad returning officer.

30. Where an order is made by an election tribunal for the production by the Seanad returning officer of any document or packet of documents in his possession under these Rules and relating to a specified election, the production by the Seanad returning officer of such document or packet of documents in pursuance of such order shall be conclusive evidence that such document or packet of documents relates to the said specified election and the endorsement made by the Seanad returning officer in pursuance of these Rules on any such document or packet of documents shall be conclusive evidence that such document or packet is what it is stated in such endorsement to be.

Evidence of voting.

31. The production by the Seanad returning officer of a ballot paper purporting to have been used at any election conducted under these Rules and of a counterfoil marked with the same printed number and having a number marked thereon in writing shall be prima facie evidence that the person who voted by such ballot paper was the person whose number on the electoral roll relating to such election was the same as the number so marked on such counterfoil.

Endorsement of packets by Seanad returning officer.

32. Whenever the Seanad returning officer is required by these Rules to seal up any documents in a separate packet, he shall endorse on such packet a statement of the number and character of such documents and the election to which they relate.

Election tribunal.

33. In these Rules, the expression "election tribunal" means a court lawfully having cognisance of petitions complaining of undue return or undue election at the relevant election.