Anger over Clare Island polling station’s early closure

RETURNING OFFICER Fintan Murphy

Voters unable to cast ballot due to error in stated polling-station opening times

Edwin McGreal

Locals on Clare Island are angry because the polling station on the island closed one hour earlier than the official polling cards stated.
The polling cards sent out to islanders on the electoral register stated that the island’s polling station, in the local national school, would be open for voting on Thursday, February 25, from 9am to 8pm.
However, on the day, the polling station was open from 8.30am and closed shortly after 7pm. The 8.30am opening time was half an hour before the official time of 9am, while 7pm was the true official closing time.
Caroline Healy, the Community Development Co-ordinator on Clare Island, wrote to Mayo Returning Officer Fintan Murphy stating their office had ‘fielded a number of complaints from residents on this’, adding she could not stress the seriousness of the issue enough.

Station closed
Ms Healy told The Mayo News that a number of people went to vote before the 8pm closure time printed on their polling cards, only to find the polling station had closed.
She added that others, including herself, would have been able to vote in the morning if they had known the polling station would be open before the advertised time of 9am.
The morning ferry left at 9am, meaning that those who were travelling on that ferry and who were not able to return that day thought they could not vote.
While the correct official opening times for the polling station, 9am to 7pm, were advertised in both The Mayo News and on Mid West Radio, Ms Healy argued that most people would use their polling card as the first reference.
In her letter to Fintan Murphy, also circulated to 15 election candidates in Mayo and Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald, Ms Healy also said that island voters ‘already face discrimination’ because they have to vote before the rest of the country.
According to the tallies, there were 69 votes cast on Clare Island in this election, compared to 84 five years ago.
The Returning Officer for the Mayo constituency, Fintan Murphy, admitted to The Mayo News that a mistake had been made.
“It appears the polling cards had a [closing] time on them which was one hour later than when polling actually was … We didn’t see the differences in times and only became aware of this after the election,” he said yesterday (Monday).
Mr Murphy said the polling cards are sent out by Mayo County Council, while advertisements of polling opening times are circulated by his office.  
He said the polling clerk on the island had noticed that two people who were regular voters had not turned up by closing time and phoned them to check if they intended to vote.
“We opened 30 minutes early and were 20 minutes late closing. If we had known in advance about the issue with the polling cards we would have tried to change the boat time and adhered to the times on the polling cards. The error would have misled some people and, clearly, there were two people unaware, the two that the polling clerk rang,” Mr Murphy added.
He apologised for the mistake that had been made.
“I’m very sorry there was an error on the polling card. We did what we normally do and printed the times in the local press. What happened was unfortunate, and all I can do is apologise,” he said.

Weather risk
He explained that the reason island voting takes place 24 hours earlier than the rest of the country is to offset the risk of any potential weather problems, which could prevent the carriage of the polling boxes to the mainland in time for counting the day after the official election day.  
“Counts have held up before for two days because of fog and high seas holding back votes coming in from the islands. It happened in Rossaveal in Galway, and happened here with Inishbiggle about 20 years ago,” he explained.
“There are people who are not happy that they are not allowed to vote on the same day as everyone else. For the vast majority, it is a privilege to be the first people to vote in the country.”