Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 46:

In page 45, between lines 7 and 8, to insert the following: "(2) The Commission shall research the impact that the alphabetical order of candidates on the ballot paper has on election outcomes. The Commission shall provide a report to the Joint Oireachtas Committee within 24 months and may make such recommendations to the Minister and the Government as it considers appropriate.".

This requests the commission to research and report back within 24 months on the impact on election outcomes of listing candidates in alphabetical order on ballot papers. Again, I am not bringing forward this amendment because my surname is O'Callaghan and I have not had major issues in electoral contests. When I first heard of the idea, I did not think it much of an issue but it was brought to my attention and I looked into it a bit, and there is clear evidence this can cause an issue in electoral outcomes. In a High Court judgment in Ireland in 1986, the judge stated:

I am satisfied that the evidence adduced proves conclusively that, in Dáil Éireann elections over a period of nearly 40 years, there has been a significant over-representation of candidates whose surnames begin with letters at the commencement of the alphabet.

This has led to some changes in other jurisdictions. For example, last year city councillors in Vancouver voted to scrap the alphabetical listing for municipal election and replace it with a randomised ballot paper. There were ten city councillors holding office at the time and six had surnames beginning with the letters "A" to "D". The councillors took the view that having the names in alphabetical order discriminated against candidates with surnames of Chinese, south Asian and Latino origin, among others, and candidates from those backgrounds were less likely to have surnames beginning with letters from the top of the alphabet. I know we are all committed to trying to increase our diversity.

An article in the journal Parliamentary Affairslooked at this in the UK, specifically with ballot papers in local elections between 1973 and 2011. It found that, in 2011 in England, for example, 161 candidates were elected purely because their names were high in the alphabetical placing at the top of the ballot paper. The review indicates this is more of an issue in what is often referred to as second order elections. These are just as important as other elections but there may be less coverage and scrutiny of them. It may not be as much of a problem in Dáil elections as it would be in European and local elections, for example.

Evidence also indicates that when larger parties run three candidates, for example, there is a much higher chance of the two candidates with surnames beginning with letters closer to the start of the alphabet getting elected rather than the third candidate.

There is a view that the alphabetical listing of names could fall foul of Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits discrimination. It could be the subject of an application for declaration of incompatibility with the convention under the European Convention of Human Rights Act 2003.

Just to get back to Ireland for a second, looking at the 2016 census, we had 122,515 Polish nationals in Ireland. The top ten most common surnames in Poland begin with the letters K, L, N, S, W and Z. It is hard not to conclude, given that the evidence shows that alphabetical ordering impacts on election results, that it discriminates against different sections of Irish society, given that by virtue of absolute chance their surnames happen to be located towards the end of the alphabet. I do not think that is something any of us would stand over. I have to admit that when I first heard this I did not realise the significance of it. This warrants serious analysis and review. There is probably no good reason it should not just be a randomised order. That certainly does not cost us anything or make anything unfair on anyone, but it produces a fairer outcome. Therefore, that should be considered and there should be a review. I look forward to the Minister’s response.