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25 Oct 2025

Spoilt votes in Mayo could be ten times higher than General Election

Tallies suggest that there were over 5000 spoilt votes in Mayo constituency, which is more than ten times more than the number recorded in Mayo General Election

Spoilt votes in Mayo could be ten times higher than General Election

Reporter:

Jack Good

25 Oct 2025 12:52 PM

Email:

jack.good@iconicnews.ie

Counting is underway in Castlebar and the high number spoilt votes look to be one of the big talking points of this election. 
With 84% of boxes tallies, 14% of votes were categorised as spoilt. This compares with just 0.6% spoilt votes recorded in the General Election in Mayo. 

The reported total of 5074 spoilt votes is more than ten times the 451 spoilt votes recorded in the last General Election in Mayo.
Potential spoilt votes are initially treated as doubtful votes and each is examined by the returning officer. 
The campaign teams are then invited to observe the doubtful votes. The campaign representatives can then challenge any votes they deem to valid votes. 
The official turnout for Presidential Election in Mayo is 45%.
READ MORE: Presidential Election: All you need to know about voting in Mayo
More spoilt votes than Humphreys and Gavin combined in Ballyhaunis 
One tally from the combined Fine Gael- Sinn Féin tally for Mayo showed that in the Scoil Íosa Ballyhuanis box, there there were more spoilt votes than the combined vote for Heather Humphreys and Jim Gavin.

The tally for Scoil Íosa Ballyhuanis showed that there 54 spoilt votes compared with 32 votes for Heather Humphreys and 13 for Jim Gavin.
A photo of the tallysheet for Scoil Íosa Ballyhuanis

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