Charlie McCreevy (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

This is not some hypothetical possibility, it is what happens every time we use the traditional system which almost certainly impacts on the results of elections. In the last local elections 24,000 people had their votes disallowed, overwhelmingly because of inadvertent errors such as indistinct numerals or a failure to properly stamp the ballot. Meanwhile 40 councillors were returned by less than 50 votes. In the Borris-in-Ossory area there was a tie for the final seat but at the same time ballots had been ruled out because of simple human errors. On the same day, over 45,000 votes were ruled out in the European elections, mainly because voters had mistakenly continued numbering between the different ballot papers. Anyone who has been at a close recount has seen ballots held up to the light to check if the perforation has gone through. In the 21st century. there must be a better way of doing things.

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