Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will add to the electronic side. Those of us from political backgrounds have campaign teams who are often fascinated, invested and involved in the tally process. It is great to see all political parties leave politics outside of the count centre, and work collaboratively on that. We of course then have tallies which are great sources of information for politicians. Ireland is probably unique in that, and I welcome it. It would be great if the Commission would consider running ads in the run-up to elections about how PR-STV works. They could be cartoon type ads showing what happens when you cast your 1,2,3 or if somebody is eliminated. It needs to be spelled out because it is complicated for people. As Mr. O'Leary noted, sometimes people do not know there is an election until the posters are up. I would add on top of that knowing how to vote. It is complex. I often meet people who say they gave me a vote and who do not understand that they had a vote to give, and not 11, 12 or however many were on the ballot papers. It is a huge opportunity, as Mr. O'Leary has said, to educate people on that.