Procedure of Voting

johnmcdnl

This is going to be my first time voting and I'm not just entirely sure of the procedure of voting...

I've checked the register and I'm down on it so that's covered...

I'm under the impression that I get some form of polling card or something before the election which I have to bring to the polling station with me...

when I go inside what exactly do I have to do?? just hand this card to the person at the desk and show my ID??

is there anything else I have to do that I'm leaving out??

like I said it is my first time voting so I just don't want to forget something "obvious" and look like an eijit inside the polling station

LeixlipRed

You need to call your local FF office and they'll have a chap bring you down to the booth. He'll even vote for you if you find it tough

xper

This webpage walks you through the basics:
http://evoting.jlambe.com/voting.html

In addition to the information on that page....

Your assigned Polling Station is not always the station that's actually nearest to you (but usually is) or the one that you or others in your household used the last time (but usually is).

Polling stations are usually in some sort of school or community building. I've found that the entrance in use on the day is not always well signed outside so, if you are not familiar with the builing concerned, make sure you know the locaton before you leave the house and allow time for a brief search! (Just look for cars/people coming and going and a bored Garda)

I've only ever voted in a large urban area so any station I've been in has had multiple numbered desks. They may be in seperate rooms or all/some may be in a large hall if that's what's available but should clearly display the range of Polling Card numbers they each serve.

You must use the desk assigned to your polling card number, even if it has a long queue and others don't. Tough!

Don't hesitate to say to the officials at the desk as you hand over your card/ID that it is your first time voting - it'll probably be obvious from your age anyway - and to ask for any clarification on what you need to do. The 'officials' are invariably friendly community-orientated types.

They'll cross your name off on the printout of the voting register they have in front of them. It is that low tech. (This is also an opportunity for the eagle-eyed to see if your neighbours have voted )

The ballot paper is a long (very long if you're in Wicklow) strip of paper with the candidates listed alphabetically by surname and forename. Their political party's name and logo, if any, and picture will be on it too. The polling cards look very much like the virtual ones on http://www.boards.ie/vote

You'll be directed to use one of a group of booths near the desk where you will fill out your ballot paper. Don't be shocked by the booths, they're invariably just very basic, temporary, unpainted wooden structures. Mind you don't get a splinter! Each booth will have a very small, shallow desk/shelf on which to mark you card and will have side walls/partitions that protrude just enough to stop prying eyes from the adjacent booth.

Marking you card, take your time. Before making any mark, go down through all the listed candidates first and make sure you identify for yourself all those you are going to vote for and where they are on the paper. Its virtually impossible to correct a mistake without spoiling your vote. A pencil is provided. Write each number in the box against the person you are giving your voting prefernce to. Start with "1" against your first choice and move up and down the paper as required, marking "2", "3", "4", etc. so you are sure you don't skip a number or use one twice. Write the number and only the number just once, clearly, in print style, not your normal hand-writting style. Concentrate on writing each number like you're a six-year-old. Write "1" as a single vertical line - that is unambiguous. Write "7", if you get that far down, with a short horizontal stroke through the vertical diagonal so it can't be confused with a "1". Make sure your "2", "3" and "8" and your "5" and "6" can't be confused with each other.

You don't have to put a prefernce beside every candidate even though the text on the ballot may seem to imply so. You can vote just "1" or "1", "2", "3", "4" or "1" to however many candiadtes there are on the ballot, whatver. Just don't skip a number or use it twice.

If you are just giving one preference vote, then you still must mark "1" in the relevant box. Marking one box with an "X" or a tick is not acceptable and spoils the vote. (This is where the the process differs to a referendum vote)

Make no other marks on the ballot paper. No smilies, no jokes, don't even test if the pencil is working first with a little scribble. Any other mark may spoil the vote.

Once you've written all your preferences, fold the paper once (okay, in Wicklow, maybe twice) vertically so that the printed side is inside the fold. Return to the desk where you received your ballot paper and place your ballot paper into the slit on the top of the Ballot Box, a large metal or plastic locked box sitting at one end of the officals' desk, give it a tap to make sure it goes all the way in. If you are a party leader, pause and smile for the cameras while doing this.

Say 'Thank you' to the officials and leave, satisfied in the knowledge that you have done your civic duty.

Despite all that is wrong with politics in this country, I do find the actual act of voting a very empowering and satisfying one. There is a sense of occasion around even the quietest polling station what with the combination of the (often ramshackle) community facility being pressed into something other than its normal use, the obligatory Garda presence, the iconic ballot box and the knowledge that the same scene is being played out in every corner of the country.

If its your first time voting, especially, take your time and take it all in and remember that people have and continue, most recently and spectacularly in Egypt, to put their lives on the line for this simple privelige.

mayo.mick

xper wrote: »

This webpage walks you through the basics:
http://evoting.jlambe.com/voting.html

In addition to the information on that page....

Your assigned Polling Station is not always the station that's actually nearest to you (but usually is) or the one that you or others in your household used the last time (but usually is).

Polling stations are usually in some sort of school or community building. I've found that the entrance in use on the day is not always well signed outside so, if you are not familiar with the builing concerned, make sure you know the locaton before you leave the house and allow time for a brief search! (Just look for cars/people coming and going and a bored Garda)

I've only ever voted in a large urban area so any station I've been in has had multiple numbered desks. They may be in seperate rooms or all/some may be in a large hall if that's what's available but should clearly display the range of Polling Card numbers they each serve.

You must use the desk assigned to your polling card number, even if it has a long queue and others don't. Tough!

Don't hesitate to say to the officials at the desk as you hand over your card/ID that it is your first time voting - it'll probably be obvious from your age anyway - and to ask for any clarification on what you need to do. The 'officials' are invariably friendly community-orientated types.

They'll cross your name off on the printout of the voting register they have in front of them. It is that low tech. (This is also an opportunity for the eagle-eyed to see if your neighbours have voted )

The ballot paper is a long (very long if you're in Wicklow) strip of paper with the candidates listed alphabetically by surname and forename. Their political party's name and logo, if any, and picture will be on it too. The polling cards look very much like the virtual ones on http://www.boards.ie/vote

You'll be directed to use one of a group of booths near the desk where you will fill out your ballot paper. Don't be shocked by the booths, they're invariably just very basic, temporary, unpainted wooden structures. Mind you don't get a splinter! Each booth will have a very small, shallow desk/shelf on which to mark you card and will have side walls/partitions that protrude just enough to stop prying eyes from the adjacent booth.

Marking you card, take your time. Before making any mark, go down through all the listed candidates first and make sure you identify for yourself all those you are going to vote for and where they are on the paper. Its virtually impossible to correct a mistake without spoiling your vote. A pencil is provided. Write each number in the box against the person you are giving your voting prefernce to. Start with "1" against your first choice and move up and down the paper as required, marking "2", "3", "4", etc. so you are sure you don't skip a number or use one twice. Write the number and only the number just once, clearly, in print style, not your normal hand-writting style. Concentrate on writing each number like you're a six-year-old. Write "1" as a single vertical line - that is unambiguous. Write "7", if you get that far down, with a short horizontal stroke through the vertical diagonal so it can't be confused with a "1". Make sure your "2", "3" and "8" and your "5" and "6" can't be confused with each other.

You don't have to put a prefernce beside every candidate even though the text on the ballot may seem to imply so. You can vote just "1" or "1", "2", "3", "4" or "1" to however many candiadtes there are on the ballot, whatver. Just don't skip a number or use it twice.

If you are just giving one preference vote, then you still must mark "1" in the relevant box. Marking one box with an "X" or a tick is not acceptable and spoils the vote. (This is where the the process differs to a referendum vote)

Make no other marks on the ballot paper. No smilies, no jokes, don't even test if the pencil is working first with a little scribble. Any other mark may spoil the vote.

Once you've written all your preferences, fold the paper once (okay, in Wicklow, maybe twice) vertically so that the printed side is inside the fold. Return to the desk where you received your ballot paper and place your ballot paper into the slit on the top of the Ballot Box, a large metal or plastic locked box sitting at one end of the officals' desk, give it a tap to make sure it goes all the way in. If you are a party leader, pause and smile for the cameras while doing this.

Say 'Thank you' to the officials and leave, satisfied in the knowledge that you have done your civic duty.

Despite all that is wrong with politics in this country, I do find the actual act of voting a very empowering and satisfying one. There is a sense of occasion around even the quietest polling station what with the combination of the (often ramshackle) community facility being pressed into something other than its normal use, the obligatory Garda presence, the iconic ballot box and the knowledge that the same scene is being played out in every corner of the country.

If its your first time voting, especially, take your time and take it all in and remember that people have and continue, most recently and spectacularly in Egypt, to put their lives on the line for this simple privelige.

Well scripted sir.