European Parliament Elections Act 1997
Inspection of ballot papers and other documents.
20.—(1) No person shall be allowed to inspect any of the documents mentioned in subsection (2) except under an order of the High Court.
(2) The documents referred to in subsection (1) are:
(a) the counterfoils of the ballot papers sent to postal voters under rule 32 of the Second Schedule,
(b) the documents mentioned in paragraphs (2) and (3) of rule 39 of the said Schedule,
(c) the counterfoils of the ballot papers delivered to special voters under rule 45 of the said Schedule,
(d) the documents mentioned in subparagraphs (a) and (b) of rule 93(1) of the said Schedule, and
(e) the documents mentioned in subparagraphs (a) and (c) of rule 93(3) of the said Schedule.
(3) An order referred to in subsection (1) shall not be made unless the court is satisfied that the inspection or production of such documents is required for the purposes of instituting or maintaining a prosecution for an offence under this Act or for the purpose of a petition.
(4) An order referred to in subsection (1) may be made subject to such conditions as to persons, time, place and mode of inspection or production as the court may think expedient, and shall make provision to ensure that the manner in which any voter voted shall not be disclosed.
(5) Where an order F39[of a court (including an order under subsection (1))] is made for the production by the F40[chief returning officer] of any document in that officer's possession relating to a European election, the production of that document accompanied by the certificate of the F40[chief returning officer] that the document relates to the specified election shall be prima facie evidence of the fact so certified and it shall not be necessary to prove the signature of the Clerk or the official position of the person signing the certificate. Unless the court so orders, it shall not be necessary for the Clerk to attend in person to attest to any matter relating to the document or certificate.
(6) Any endorsement appearing on any packet produced pursuant to subsection (5) shall be, until the contrary is shown, sufficient evidence that the contents of the packet are as stated in the endorsement.
(7) All documents sent by a local returning officer or a returning officer in pursuance of this Act to the F40[chief returning officer], other than documents referred to in subsection (2), shall be open to public inspection at such time and under such conditions as may be specified by the F40[chief returning officer]. The F40[chief returning officer] shall supply copies of or extracts from the said documents to any person demanding the same, on payment of such fees not exceeding the reasonable cost of copying and subject to such conditions as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance.
Annotations
Amendments:
F39
Substituted (11.06.1997) by Electoral Act 1997 (25.1997), s. 80(2), S.I. No. 245 of 1997.
F40
Substituted (1.11.2001) by Electoral (Amendment) Act 2001 (38/2001), s. 51(e), S.I. No. 497 of 2001.
Modifications (not altering text):
C9
Reference to Clerk of the Dáil construed (26.07.2014) by Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 2014 (24/2014), s. 1, commenced on enactment. "Clerk of the Dáil" was substituted (1.11.2001) as per F-note above.
Absence, incapacity or vacancy in office of Clerk of Dáil Éireann
1. (1) If and so long as the office of Clerk of Dáil Éireann is vacant or the holder of that office is unable through illness, absence or other cause to perform his or her functions under any of the relevant statutory provisions, the functions conferred on the said Clerk by those provisions shall be performed by the Clerk-Assistant of Dáil Éireann and relevant references in the relevant Acts to the Clerk of Dáil Éireann shall be construed as references to the Clerk-Assistant of Dáil Éireann and any connected references shall be construed accordingly.
(2) In this section—
“relevant Acts” means— ...
(b) the European Parliament Elections Act 1997,
...
“relevant statutory provisions” means—
(b) rules 19 and 92(3) of the Second Schedule to the European Parliament Elections Act 1997,
...
C10
Functions transferred and references to Minister for Finance construed as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (29.07.2011) by Finance (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2011 (S.I. No. 418 of 2011), art. 3, 5 and sch. 1 part 2, in effect as per art. 1(2), subject to transitional provisions in arts. 6-9.
3. The functions conferred on the Minister for Finance by or under the provisions of
(a) the enactments specified in Schedule 1, and
(b) the statutory instruments specified in Schedule 2,
are transferred to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.
...
5. References to the Minister for Finance contained in any Act or instrument under an Act and relating to any functions transferred by this Order shall, from the commencement of this Order, be construed as references to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.
...
Schedule 1
Enactments
...
Part 2
1922 to 2011 Enactments
|
Number and Year |
Short Title |
Provision |
|
(1) |
(2) |
(3) |
|
... |
... |
... |
|
No. 2 of 1997 |
European Parliament Elections Act 1997 |
Sections 13(A)(4), 18(3) and (4) and 20(7); Second Schedule, Part I, rule 9(4), Part XV, rules 134(5) and 144(2) and (5) |
|
... |
... |
... |
Note change of name of Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to
• Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform (1.02.2023) by Public Expenditure and Reform (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2023 (S.I. No. 19 of 2023), in effect as per art. 1(2);
• Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (5.06.2025) by Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2025 (S.I. No. 243 of 2025), in effect as per art. 1(2).