Voting method

Electoral Act 1923, Number 12 of 1923

3.—(1) Every person registered as a Dáil elector for any constituency shall, while so registered, be entitled to vote at every Dáil election for that constituency, and also to vote in that constituency at every Referendum.

21.—(1) Every Dáil or Seanad elector in any county or borough constituency who is a member of the defense force of Saorstát Eireann on full pay shall, if he so desires, be entered on the postal voters list of his constituency.

(2) The name of every elector in a University constituency shall be entered on the postal voters list for that constituency.

(3) Every elector whose name is on the postal voters list for any constituency shall be entitled to vote by sending his ballot paper by post to the returning officer, but shall not, so long as his name is on that list, be entitled to vote in any other manner.

(4) The returning officer shall, in the case of a contested Dáil election, as soon as practicable after the adjournment of the election, and in the case of a Seanad election or a Referendum, as soon as practicable after the issue of the proclamation appointing the day on which same is to be held or taken, send a ballot paper to each elector whose name is on the postal voters' list and who is entitled to vote at that election or Referendum to the address recorded by the registration officer, together with a declaration of identity in the prescribed form, and if such ballot paper duly marked by the postal voter and accompanied by the declaration of identity duly signed and authenticated is received by the returning officer before the close of the poll it shall be counted by him and treated for all purposes in the same manner as a ballot paper placed in the ballot box in the ordinary way.

No. 96/1945: The Presidential and Local Election Regulations, 1945.

6.—(1) Every local returning officer for a constituency shall send by post in accordance with this Article to every elector whose name is on the register of persons entitled to vote at an election of members of Dáil Eireann in such constituency (in this Article referred to as " the register ") and is not in the postal voters list for such constituency a card (in this Article referred to as a " polling card ") in the form set forth in the Second Schedule to these regulations informing such elector of his number (including polling district letter) on the register and of the situation of the polling place in which he will be entitled to vote at the 1945 presidential election.

Electoral Act, 1960, Number 43 of 1960.

6.—(1) The Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion of the following section after section 8:

“8A.—(1) A Dáil elector shall be entered in the postal voters list for his constituency if he is—

(a) a member of the Garda Síochána, or

(b) a whole time member of the Defence Forces.

(…)”

(The Principal Act” means the Electoral Act, 1923)

Voting from Abroad: The International IDEA Handbook, page 100

Ireland: Public officials employed at diplomatic missions and members of the armed forces are the only categories of elector permitted to vote while abroad.

Electoral Act 1992, Number 23 of 1992

14.—An elector shall be entered in the postal voters list if he is—

(a) a member of the Garda Síochána who not later than the last day for making claims for registration applies to be so entered, or

(b) a whole time member of the Defence Forces (as defined in paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of section 11 ), or

(c) a person who is deemed by virtue of section 12 to be ordinarily resident in premises in the State on the qualifying date.

38. (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), a person who is entitled to vote at a Dáil election shall be entitled to vote in person only and at the polling station allotted to him or, in case he is authorised under section 99 or 100 by a returning officer, at the polling station specified in the authorisation.

(2) Every Dáil elector whose name is, at the time of a Dáil election, in the postal voters list for a constituency shall be entitled to vote in that constituency at the poll at such election by sending his ballot paper by post to the returning officer for that constituency and shall not be entitled to vote in any other manner.

How the Dáil (Lower House of Parliament) is Elected, Community and Local Government February 2011, page 4

Postal voting is available to the Garda Síochána (police force), Defence Forces and civil servants (and their spouses) attached to Irish missions abroad, (…) Under this arrangement, a ballot paper is posted to the elector at home who must arrange to have his or her declaration of identity witnessed by a Garda before marking the ballot paper and returning it by post to the returning officer.

How Members of Local Authorities are Elected, Environment, Community and Local Government, February 2009, page 3

Postal voting is available to members of the Garda Síochána, Defence Forces and civil servants (and their spouses) attached to Irish missions abroad, (…) Under this arrangement, a ballot paper is posted to the elector at home who must arrange to have their declaration of identity witnessed by a Garda before marking the ballot paper and returning it by post to the returning officer.

Local Elections Regulations 1995., S.I. No. 297/1995

10. (2) Every elector whose name is, at the time of an election, in the postal voters list for a local electoral area shall be entitled to vote in that local electoral area at the poll at such election by sending the ballot paper by post to the returning officer for that local electoral area and shall not be entitled to vote in any other manner.

How The President is Elected, Environment, Community and Local Government, August 2011, page 4

Postal voting is available to the Garda Síochána (police force), Defence Forces and civil servants (and their spouses/partners) attached to Irish missions abroad, (…) Under this arrangement, a ballot paper is posted to the elector at home who must arrange to have his or her declaration of identity witnessed by a Garda before marking the ballot paper and returning it by post to the returning officer.

Presidential Elections Act, 1993, Number 28 of 1993

40.—(1) Every presidential elector whose name is, at the time of an election, in the postal voters list for a constituency (in this Act referred to as “a postal voter”) shall be entitled to vote in that constituency at the poll at the election by sending a ballot paper by post to the local returning officer for the constituency and shall not be entitled to vote at the election in any other manner.

The Referendum in Ireland, Environment, Community and Local Government, July 2012, page 7

Postal voting is available to the Garda Síochána (police force), Defence Forces and civil servants (and their spouses/civil partners) attached to Irish missions abroad, (…) Under this arrangement, a ballot paper is posted to the elector at home who must arrange to have his or her declaration of identity witnessed by a Garda before marking the ballot paper and returning it by post to the returning officer.

Referendum Act 1994, Number 12 of 1994

28.—(1) Every presidential elector whose name is, at the time of a referendum, in the postal voters list for a constituency (in this Act referred to as “a postal voter”) shall be entitled to vote in that constituency at the poll at the referendum by sending a ballot paper by post to the local returning officer for the constituency and shall not be entitled to vote at the referendum in any other manner.