REFERENDUM ACT 1994
Counting of votes afresh.
47.—(1) The court may, for the purposes of the trial of a referendum petition, if it thinks fit, order—
(a) that all the votes cast at the referendum in a constituency shall be counted afresh, or
(b) that all the votes so cast and recorded on the ballot papers contained in a particular parcel shall be so counted,
and where the court so orders, the provisions of this section shall have effect.
(2) Votes to which an order under this section relates shall be counted afresh under the direction of the court and, subject to subsections (3) and (4) and to such modifications (if any) as the court considers necessary, the provisions of this Act relating to the counting of votes at a referendum shall apply to such counting.
(3) Where votes are counted afresh pursuant to an order under this section, the court shall cause the following to be disregarded:
(a) votes recorded on ballot papers which are invalid by virtue of section 34, and
(b) votes recorded on forged or counterfeited ballot papers.
(4) The court shall have power to reverse any decision of the local returning officer at the original count.
(5) The costs of giving effect to an order under this section F25[shall, with the approval of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, be paid by the Minister for Finance] out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof and section 16 shall, with respect to the services and expenses properly rendered or incurred by the local returning officer concerned for the purposes of, or in connection with, giving effect to the order, apply in the same manner as it applied in respect of the services and expenses rendered or incurred by the local returning officer for, or in connection with, the referendum.
Annotations
Amendments:
F25
Substituted (6.07.2011) by Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 2011 (10/2011), s. 75(g), S.I. No. 401 of 2011.
Modifications (not altering text):
C27
Prospective affecting provision: subss. (1) to (4) applied with modifications by Electoral (Amendment) Act 2004 (15/2004), ss. 6(b), 7 and sch. 3 para. (n), not commenced as of date of revision.
Application of certain provisions of relevant enactments
6.—The provisions of— ...
(b) Parts I, II and IV of the Act of 1994,
...
shall, subject to the modifications specified in Schedule 1, 2, 3 or 4 to this Act, apply and have effect in relation to voting and vote counting under this Part at a relevant election or, as the case may be, a referendum.
Modification of relevant enactments in their application for purposes of Act
7.—Schedules 1 to 4 to this Act have effect for the purpose of modifying certain enactments in so far as those enactments apply for the purposes of this Act.
SCHEDULE 3
Modification of Certain Provisions of Act of 1994
For the purpose of the application by virtue of this Act to voting and the counting of votes at a referendum of certain provisions of the Act of 1994, the said provisions as so applied shall have effect as if— ...
(n) in section 47 of that Act the following were substituted for subsections (1) to (4)—
“(1) The court may, for the purposes of the trial of a referendum petition, if it thinks fit, order—
(a) that all the votes cast at a referendum on voting machines in a constituency shall be counted afresh, or
(b) that all the votes so cast or recorded on cartridges or discs contained in particular voting machines shall be so counted,
and where the court so orders, the provisions of this section shall have effect. For the purpose of enabling such an order to be carried out, the software used for counting votes cast on voting machines shall include a capability of providing a table of the preferences recorded for each vote cast at the poll at the referendum, including the vote number referred to in section 13 of the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2004 and a separate record of each vote cast at the referendum, showing the preference recorded on it and the vote number referred to in that section 13.
(2) Votes to which an order under this section relates shall be counted afresh under the direction of the court and subject to subsections (3), (4) and (4A) and to such modifications (if any) as the court considers necessary.
(3) In counting the votes afresh pursuant to an order under this section, the count shall begin without disturbing the mix carried out by the constituency vote counting machine under section 13 of the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2004.
(4) Where votes are counted afresh pursuant to an order under this section and the court decides that votes shall be added to, or removed from, the vote table, the software shall be capable of so adding or removing votes so that there shall be a minimum disturbance to the mix carried out by the constituency vote counting machine prior to the original count."
(4A) The court shall have power to reverse any decision of the local returning officer at the original count.”
...