Sheahan says incorrect stamping of ballot papers needs to be addressed

A Sinn Féin member who lost out on a council seat by one vote has claimed that incorrect stamping of ballot papers needs to be addressed for future elections.

John Sheahan, who accepted defeat in the Swinford Local Electoral Area following a second recount of ballot papers, told The Mayo News that the process would ‘need to be looked at’ in the next election.

Mr Sheahan said the incorrect stamping of ballot papers would have affected all candidates and did not blame this for his electoral defeat. 

All ballot papers must be stamped to be deemed valid, regardless of whether they are filled in correctly.

There were a total of 109 spoiled votes in the four-seat Swinford Local Electoral Area, which saw three candidates, Cllr John Caulfield, Cllr Adrian Forkan (both Fianna Fáil) and Cllr Neil Cruise (Fine Gael) elected without reaching the quota of 1,744.

Just six votes separated Cllr Caulfield (1,643), Cllr Neil Cruise (1,637) and Mr Sheahan (1,636) after the result of the second recount was declared shortly after midnight on Tuesday, June 12.

The initial count took place on Sunday June 10, followed by a first recount which began the following morning shortly after 10am.

“That’s the democratic process, and when the result was so close, we had no choice but to call for a recount and then with the errors that were found after the first count, we most certainly were entitled, as any other party would have if they were in a similar position, to look for a recount,” Mr Sheahan said after accepting defeat in the second recount.

“However, what does need to be addressed is some of the ballot papers that turned into the counting hall there today didn’t have the correct stamp on them. They weren’t stamped and were disallowed, that actually cost candidates, including myself, in the region of ten number 1 votes, which had a huge impact on the outcome of this result and that really has to be addressed for future elections.

“Having said that, I wish the people who have been elected every success. I know they’ve served the people to the best of their ability because that’s what people deserve,” he added.

His Sinn Féin colleague, Cllr Gerry Murray topped the poll on 1,586 first preferences and was elected after exceeding the quota on the third count. The Charlestown-based county councillor is once again his party’s only representative on Mayo County Council.

Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh told The Mayo News that Sinn Féin did not run too many candidates for Mayo County Council, despite eight of the party’s nine candidates failing to get elected.

Sinn Féin President, Mary Lou McDonald, said on the Sunday after the election that her party had run too many candidates in the local elections.

Both Mr Sheahan and Deputy Conway-Walsh declined to say if the party would run two candidates in the five-seat Mayo constituency in the next Dáil election. 

“It’s too soon to tell. You have to look and see what the trends are at the time. But it’s just too soon to tell,” Deputy Conway-Walsh told The Mayo News.

“We’ll develop a strategy as we go along and make those decisions collectively in the party.”