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“Spending Limit Period for Candidates and Parties Commences on Tuesday April 7th" -Gormley-

06/04/09

Election Posters may not be erected until 6th May

Polling Day Order Signed

Mr. John Gormley, T.D., Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, has today (6 April 09) announced that he recently signed two orders; the first one sets Tuesday 7th April as the day from which the spending limits at the elections apply. The second one made an Order appointing Friday 5th June 2009 as the polling day and the hours between 7.00 a.m. and 10.00 p.m. as the hours of polling at the local elections.

The local elections will be held in conjunction with the European Parliament elections, for which a separate polling day order will be made at a later date.

The Polling Day Order for the local elections was made in order to facilitate implementation of the new spending limits at local elections.  The Minister also made a further order  setting Tuesday 7th April as the day from which the spending limits at the elections apply.  Election spending incurred between April 7th, 2009 and polling day on June 5th, must be included on a declaration submitted by candidates and political parties within 90 days of polling day.  This year’s local elections will see spending limits applied to candidates and parties for the first time ever.

For the 34 County and City Councils, a sliding scale with four separate spending limits, based on the population within each individual electoral area, will apply.  A top limit of €15,000 will apply in the most populated areas, with limits of €13,000, €11,500 and €9,750 to apply to candidates in other county and city council electoral areas, depending on their population.  Due to their different administrative responsibilities, a standard spending limit will apply to all 80 of the borough and town councils.  Candidates standing for election to these local authorities will be subject to a spending limit of €7,500 in all cases. 

Announcing the commencement of the election spending period, Minister Gormley said that the introduction of spending limits for local elections represents a significant reform of the electoral process to make it fairer for all:  “It is in everybody’s interest that there should be clear and reasonable spending limits as this ensures a level playing field for all candidates.  In the competitive atmosphere at an election, parties and candidates can be drawn into a spiral of competitive spending which can serve no real purpose other than to run the risk of needless increased expenditure,” the Minister added.

The time period during which candidates can exhibit election posters has now been clarified and the Minister announced that local and european election candidates can only erect posters from 6th May, which is 30 days before the polling date.  The requirement for candidates to remove all posters within 7 days of the poll still remains; so all posters must be down by 12th June.

The Minister also took the opportunity to remind people who are eligible to vote but are not yet registered as electors that they still have time to apply for entry in the Supplement to the register of electors to be published before polling day and so be able to vote on 5th June.

Persons not on the register may be eligible to apply for inclusion on the Supplement to the register. To be eligible, a person must be 18 years of age or over on or before polling day and must be ordinarily resident in the State.

An application for entry on the supplement must be witnessed by:

a member of the Garda Síochána or, if the person cannot attend their local Garda Station, by an official of their City or County Council provided they state the reason why they were unable to attend a Garda station.  If, because of a physical illness or physical disability, a person cannot attend either their local Garda Station or their City or County Council, their application form can be accompanied by a medical certificate.

The final date for the receipt of completed supplement application forms by City and County Councils is Monday 18th May 2009.  Forms are available from City and County Councils, Garda Stations, Libraries, Post Offices and on-line at www.checktheregister.ie.

Media queries:
Press and Information Office
Tel: (01) 888 2638  (direct)
(01) 888 2000
E-Mail: press-office@environ.ie

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