Electoral Act, 1963

Amendment of sections 8(1), 10(1) and 11 of Principal Act.

67.—(1) Section 11 of the Principal Act is hereby amended as follows:

(i) the following paragraph shall be inserted after paragraph (a):

“(aa) the poll shall continue for such period, not being less than twelve hours, between the hours of 8.30 a.m. and 10.30 p.m. as may be appointed in that behalf under this Act;”

(ii) the following paragraph shall be substituted for paragraph (d):

“(d) the person who would be the returning officer at a Dáil election in any such constituency shall be the returning officer in that constituency for the purposes of the poll, but where that person is prevented by illness or other reasonable cause from performing all or any of his duties as such returning officer or where a vacancy occurs in the office of returning officer, the Minister shall appoint a person to act as such returning officer for the performance of those duties during the period of the prevention or vacancy, as the case may be, and any reference in this Act to a local returning officer shall be construed as including both a reference to a person who is by virtue of this paragraph the returning officer in a constituency for the purposes of the poll and a reference to a person appointed as aforesaid by the Minister;”

(2) Subsection (1) of section 8 and subsection (1) of section 10 of the Principal Act are each hereby amended by the insertion of “and the period during which” before “the polling at”.