The logistics of the Count and tallies

SOME 200 count staff and hundreds of tallymen and women are preparing for a busy weekend once the election count gets underway in Killarney on Sunday morning.

The process will begin at the Killarney Sports and Leisure Centre at 9am on Sunday morning, when 266 ballot boxes from across the county will be opened.

The count will be overseen by Returning Officer Kerry County Registrar Padraig Burke, with assistance from senior staff of Kerry County Council.

The count staff will have taken part in several ‘mock count’ training sessions in recent weeks.

The count will involve boxes from 266 polling booths – including six boxes of postal votes – with votes cast by a total electorate of about 117,000.

In terms of the tally, with each candidate entitled to bring eight ‘ tallymen’, several hundred people will be involved in Killarney for most of Saturday. As per usual, several of the main parties will be combining their resources to carry out the tally.

Given the tight nature of the race in Kerry – and the fact that the county is now a unified five-seat constituency – it is likely that the destination of the final seat may not be known until late on Monday night or possibly Tuesday.

With 12 candidates on the ticket, a look at similar constituencies offers a vague guide to how long the count will take.

At the last General Election most ‘close’ five seaters with 12 to 15 candidates went through about 14 counts before the final result was confirmed.

Something similar is likely in Kerry this time out, so be prepared for a long wait.