Turnout up - but vote chaos mars polling day
Call for electoral register probe
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Friday May 25 2007
As voters turned out in larger than expected numbers there were calls for an inquiry into the shambolic state of the voting lists.
Problems were reported at the ballot box in several places right across the country yesterday.
They arose despite €12m being spent to 'clean up' the electoral register.
There were demands for an inquiry into the Register of Electors as examples rolled in of voters being disenfranchised and confused by the management of the system.
Despite Environment Minister Dick Roche hailing the €12m electoral register campaign as a major success, there were plenty of examples of cock-ups on polling day.
Around 1,000 voters were allocated the same voting number in Galway as in the 2004 local elections. That meant they had to produce identification to vote. There were several reports, particularly in Kilkenny, of voters receiving several polling cards in the south east.
In neighbouring Wexford locals found their names were no longer on the register.
A man from the midlands lost his vote after his son - who shares his first name - moved house and inadvertently took the two votes with him.
In Laois an 80-year-old man, who hasn't missed an election or a referendum in 60 years, turned up to vote in Abbeyleix only to be told he wasn't on the register.
Voters had turned out in larger numbers than five years ago with long queues building up outside a number of polling stations.
Fine Gael and Labour believe the high turnout will help the opposition parties more than the government coalition.
The evening rush to the polls helped push turnout past the 63pc in 2002.
The party leaders all voted early in the day with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern casting his ballot shortly after 11am at a school on Richmond Road in Drumcondra.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny and his wife Fionnuala cast their votes in the parochial centre in Castlebar.
And today, the party machines were all geared up for the counts in the 43 constituencies.
The first indication of the swing in the election is expected early today when RTE Radio will broadcast results of a Lansdowne Market Research exit poll.
Ballot boxes were due to be opened at 9am, with tally figures expected by lunchtime and first counts coming in the late afternoon and early evening.
The Data Protection Commissioner said it received complaints from consumers who received canvass texts on their mobile phone from candidates.
The Department of the Environment said the election was running fine and it had not received any reports about any constituencies having difficulties.
But that didn't tally with evidence from right across the country.
Dozens of voters were unable to cast their ballot in Cork as the Green Party demanded a formal probe into the review of the Register of Electors.
Reports of voters being unable to cast ballots or being directed to different voting stations came from parts of Cork city and various county towns including Mallow, Youghal and Midleton.
The Greens expressed outrage over the Register and claimed that dozens of householders had been wrongly denied their vote - or had casting their ballot made extremely difficult.
In Galway city, up to 1,000 voters were affected by a mix-up with card numbers.
The voters were erroneously allocated the same voting number as they had for the 2004 local elections.
So they all had to produce ID to ensure the person matched the name.
- Fionnan Sheahan and Michael Brennan
