Can candidates see whether I voted or not?

Typishasa wrote: »

Can the candidates or their election agents or canvassing teams see whether or not I voted?
I was canvassed by an acquaintance who is an enthusiastic supporter of one of the candidates, and they were expecting me to vote for that candidate today in my homeplace, where I usually come back to every weekend.
However, this weekend it was not convenient for me to travel home today, as I haver other reasons for staying in my current location until tomorrow, which is in a different part f the country.
When I voted on previous occasions, the polling station staff drew a line through my name on the list when I arrived.
Will the canvassing team have access to this list showing who did and didn't vote?

Technically no, as has been explained already. However, if they lived next door to you, and arrived in at 9.55, they would know who on their road had voted already, and who had not, while they were waiting for their name to be crossed off as the page would be visible.

There are also a number of features to our voting system that mean it isn't fully confidential. When you are handed a ballot paper, there is a number on it. If the person sitting there remembers your number, your vote can be traced. Why would they do that? Well, you might be Pat Kenny or Ryan Turbidy.

That mental note of your ballot paper (or noted in writing) could be passed to someone who is working on the count. As the ballots are counted, your number (or Pat's) might be spotted and either a count worker or a tallyman would know who you voted for.

L1011 wrote: »

I also found struck off lists from the '99 locals and Euros dumped in school bins

This shouldn't happen, as all the documentation should be available to the returning officer for checking.

Hate to say it lads, but they can see the marked register, so yes they can tell if you voted (but not how)

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/parties-buy-registers-showing-who-voted-1.1099451?mode=amp

Any party worth their salt would know not to hassle you over it (spilled milk and they'll want your next vote!)

In my polling station there were what I assumed to be representatives of political parties sitting inside the door with pen and paper. When my wife and I handed our voting cards to the polling clerk, she called out our numbers to these people. I'm guessing that they had a copy of the electoral register and were marking off our names as having voted.

There are occasional circumstances in which your vote can be definitely known.
In my locality I was told how a certain prominent strictly non-political citizen voted in a referendum. How was it known? Because every vote in his particular polling booth was a yes vote.

Likewise I know of a person who was expected to vote for a person who was his party's only candidate in his area, and was embarrassed that the local party apparachiks knew he hadn't done so - for the same reason. The candidate got no vote out of his box.

I can't speak for Dublin but in rural Ireland where there are some very small polling stations the local potentates have mathematical powers that would make Einstein look like a junior cert student. They would remember exactly how the vote went at the previous election, and could very expertly analyse any change, taking into account deaths, emigration etc. (assuming the dead hadn't voted) and if they couldn't identify the renegade with certainty they would at least have a good idea. Any suspect might be closely observed afterwards by An Dearthár Mór. Changing his reading habits from the Irish Independent to the Irish Press would be of interest. Matters could also have a bearing on any application for a rate collector's job.

I wouldn't care to be voting on Tory Island where, I understand, the electorate amounts to four.