In the Republic of Ireland, the voting system is far from the French one we know. The Irish system operates on the basis of proportional representation, with transfer of votes for constituencies offering several seats (three, four or five). A little confused? Here’s a quick overview of how the Irish voting system works…
On voting day, voters are given a card on which all candidates are listed in alphabetical order, with their photo and party logo opposite their name if they so wish.
In the voting booth, voters rank their candidates: they place a 1 in front of their first choice, a 2 in front of their second choice, and so on. He is free to rank all candidates, choose just one, or stop mid-ranking.
While this system enables voters to fully express their wishes, it also requires a lot of work during the vote count, which often takes many hours, or even several days in some constituencies.
The ballots are first collected and sorted, with invalid votes eliminated. The quota is then determined. It is obtained by dividing the number of valid votes by the number of seats to be filled plus 1, then adding 1. For example, if 30,000 valid votes have been cast for a constituency offering three seats, the quota is 30,000 divided by 4, plus 1, i.e. 7,501. This quota is the number of votes that candidates must achieve. It is impossible to have more candidates above the quota than seats. So, in the example, it’s possible to have three candidates with 7,501 votes (or more), but it’s not possible to have four (although it is possible to have four candidates with 7,500 votes).
The first countdown begins. If a candidate receives enough votes to meet or exceed the quota, he or she is elected. Its surplus votes, the difference between the number of votes received and the quota, are then transferred. For example, if candidate A is elected with 1,000 votes “too many”, and for 40% of the ballots showing A as first choice, candidate B appears as second choice, then the candidate receives 400 votes. This involves the transfer of 400 randomly selected ballots. If two candidates exceed the quota at the same time, we start with the one with the largest surplus.
If the surplus distribution fails to elect a new candidate, or if there is no surplus, the candidate with the lowest number of votes is eliminated. Several candidates can be eliminated at once if it is clear that transfers cannot “save” them. All votes cast for eliminated candidates are transferred, following the same principle as above.
The second round of counting then begins. The principle is the same, the only difference being that the transfer is now made only on the votes received in the previous count, and not on all of them.
Counting continues as long as necessary. There are two conditions that can lead to the end of the process. The first is obvious: all seats are filled. The second occurs when there is only one more candidate left than there are seats still vacant, and it’s clear that he can’t catch up with the others. He is then eliminated and the others win the seats. For example, in a constituency with four elected members, two seats were allocated after several rounds of counting. This leaves two seats to be filled. At some point, by dint of elimination, if no candidate reaches the quota, we’ll end up with three candidates in the running. So, if the last candidate is further behind than any transfers could bring, he or she is eliminated and the other two are elected.
To obtain reimbursement of campaign expenses (up to a limit of, say, 6,348 euros for a Dáil election), the candidate must obtain at least a quarter of the quota. For example, in a four-seat constituency, he must obtain 5% of valid votes.
4.00/5 (3 votes)
