REFERENDUM ACT 1994
Statement for the information of voters.
23.—(1) At a referendum a statement in relation to the proposal which is the subject of the referendum may be prescribed for the information of voters by resolution of each House of the Oireachtas and, where a statement is so prescribed—
(a) a polling information card sent under section 92 of the Act of 1992 (as applied by section 32) shall contain a copy of the statement;
(b) copies of the statement shall also be sent by the local returning officer for a constituency to every elector whose name is on the register of presidential electors for such constituency and is on the postal voters list for such constituency at the same time as the ballot paper for the poll at the referendum is sent to the elector;
(c) copies of the statement shall also be sent by the local returning officer for a constituency to every elector whose name is on the register of presidential electors for such constituency and is on the special voters list for such constituency and shall be so sent in sufficient time to be delivered to the elector before the delivery of the ballot paper to the elector;
(d) copies of the statement shall be displayed by a presiding officer in and in the precincts of the polling station: Provided that the referendum shall not be invalidated by reason of any failure to display such copies in or in the precincts of any polling station.
F15[(e) a statement for the information of voters prescribed at a referendum may issue to electors on a document other than a polling information card if the statement cannot be accommodated on the polling card because of its length.]
(2) Where a statement is prescribed under subsection (1) in relation to a referendum, in applying section 103 of the Act of 1992 (as applied by section 32) the following subsection shall be substituted for subsection (7):
“(7) (a) Where a ballot paper is to be marked pursuant to subsection (5), the presiding officer may assist the voter by reading out in full from the ballot paper the proposal stated therein and asking the voter “Do you approve of or do you object to that proposal becoming law?” and shall then, unless it is a case to which paragraph (b) of this subsection applies, mark the ballot paper in accordance with the answer of the voter, but the presiding officer shall not act on any written instruction.
(b) Where the voter fails to understand the import of the said question, or does not answer the question the presiding officer—
(i) shall read out to the voter the statement prescribed pursuant to section 23 (1) of the Referendum Act, 1994,
(ii) shall then ask the voter “Which do you wish to do—to vote in favour of the proposal in that Bill or to vote against the proposal?”, and
(iii) shall then mark the ballot paper in accordance with the answer of the voter, but shall not act on any written instructions.”.
Annotations
Amendments:
F15
Inserted (1.11.2001) by Electoral (Amendment) Act 2001 (38/2001), s. 55(d), S.I. No. 497 of 2001.
Modifications (not altering text):
C12
Application of section extended (19.05.2004) by Electoral (Amendment) Act 2004 (15/2004), s. 35, S.I. No. 215 of 2004.
Unlawful possession of polling information card.
35.—(1) A person shall be guilty of an offence if the person, without lawful authority—
(a) takes, destroys, conceals or otherwise interferes with a polling information card, or
(b) presents such a card at a polling station,
which is not addressed to the person in accordance with section 92 of the Act of 1992, section 23 of the Act of 1994, Rule 54 of the Second Schedule to the Act of 1997 [, Article 55 of the Regulations of 1995 or paragraph 40 of Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2024.]
(2) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding €3,500 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both, or
(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €10,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or both.
Editorial Notes:
E9
Previous affecting provision: subs. (1) applied with modification for the purposes of the referenda held on the 7 June 2001 (7.06.2001) by Referendum (Special Difficulty) Order 2001 (S.I. No. 206 of 2001), art. 3.
E10
Previous affecting provision: subs. (1) construed for the purposes of the referendum held on the 22 May 1998 (22.05.1998) by Referendum Act, 1994 Referendum (Special Difficulty) Order 1998 (S.I. No. 122 of 1998), art. 3.