A SUPREME COURT ruling on how ballot papers without a first preference should be counted may be behind the record number of spoiled European election votes this year.
But while some see spoiled votes as a form of protest against the options on a constituency’s ballot paper, the reason for the jump is more technical. Kiely took the case after losing out on a seat for Kerry County Council in the 2014 local elections, when – like they did this year – voters cast their preferences on two separate ballot papers: one for the European Parliament and one for their local authority.
O’Malley told TheJournal.ie that the judgement “seemed a bit silly at the time” and suggested that it removed discretion from returning officers in how votes were counted.“If you read the ballot paper, it does say to vote in the number of preference, but many people might overlook that when they’re voting.”
“We just assume that people know how to vote in preferential order, but if they don’t read a newspaper or look online, they’re not going to know how to vote,” she says.