Returning officer plans for counting to run into Monday at St. Joseph’s
Returning Officer Marie Garahy is preparing for the General Election count to run into two days in Wexford where a field of 15 candidates for five seats, including four on the Fianna Fail ticket and three for Fine Gael, could result in some variable transfer patterns.
‘When we do the first count, I’ll have a better idea. Going on previous general elections, I would be expecting it to go into the second day’, she said.
Voting will take place in 191 polling stations around County Wexford this Saturday, February 8, the first time there has been a weekend general election in the country since 1918, requiring the count to begin on Sunday morning.
Saturday was chosen by An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar to encourage a larger turn-out by students returning to their home constituencies for the weekend and also to facilitate working parents of school-going children who have to organise childcare when schools are transformed into polling stations for a mid-week election.
Whether this converts to a larger poll remains to be seen. Other variables may come into play, including an Ireland/ Wales rugby match scheduled to take place in Dublin that day.
The counting of votes will take place in St. Joseph’s Community Centre in Bishopswater, with the count centre opening at 9 a.m. on Sunday. No tickets are required for entry and members of the public are welcome to attend.
Approximately 100 count staff will be involved in the separation and counting of votes and the returning officer doesn’t anticipate a staffing problem if the count goes into Monday, when some people will be due to return to work.
‘I don’t forsee too much of a problem. We will have enough people. We wouldn’t need the full complement for the second day’, she said.
The returning officer said she will make a decision before midnight on Sunday on how long to continue the count that night.
‘I would certainly be looking at midnight and if we are close to a full result, we will continue, otherwise, we will resume the next day.
‘I would be delighted if it finished on the first day but I would be anticipating a second day and that’s what we are planning for’, she said.
Polling booths will be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday. Remember, all registered Irish and UK citizens over the age of 18, resident in the State, are entitled to vote in a Dáil election.
If you are registered, you are still entitled to vote even if you haven’t received a polling card in the post. Just bring along some form of photo ID.
To find out if you are on the electoral register, telephone 053 9196255 or 053 9196490, email franchise@wexfordcoco.ie or look for your name in the Check the Register service online.
Voters in the Blackwater area are asked to note that the polling station in Blackwater Hall has been changed to the local national school across the road.
A polling station in Kennedy Park, Wexford has been relocated back to the Faythe School to facilitate people who had complained about finding the change inconvenient.