European Parliament Elections Act, 1997
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Inspection of ballot papers and other documents. |
20.—(1) No person shall be allowed to inspect any of the documents mentioned in subsection (2) except under an order of the High Court. | |
(2) The documents referred to in subsection (1) are: | ||
(a) the counterfoils of the ballot papers sent to postal voters under rule 32 of the Second Schedule , | ||
(b) the documents mentioned in paragraphs (2) and (3) of rule 39 of the said Schedule, | ||
(c) the counterfoils of the ballot papers delivered to special voters under rule 45 of the said Schedule, | ||
(d) the documents mentioned in subparagraphs (a) and (b) of rule 93(1) of the said Schedule, and | ||
(e) the documents mentioned in subparagraphs (a) and (c) of rule 93(3) of the said Schedule. | ||
(3) An order referred to in subsection (1) shall not be made unless the court is satisfied that the inspection or production of such documents is required for the purposes of instituting or maintaining a prosecution for an offence under this Act or for the purpose of a petition. | ||
(4) An order referred to in subsection (1) may be made subject to such conditions as to persons, time, place and mode of inspection or production as the court may think expedient, and shall make provision to ensure that the manner in which any voter voted shall not be disclosed. | ||
(5) Where an order pursuant to this section is made for the production by the Clerk of the Dáil of any document in that officer's possession relating to a European election, the production of that document accompanied by the certificate of the Clerk that the document relates to the specified election shall be prima facie evidence of the fact so certified and it shall not be necessary to prove the signature of the Clerk or the official position of the person signing the certificate. Unless the court so orders, it shall not be necessary for the Clerk to attend in person to attest to any matter relating to the document or certificate. | ||
(6) Any endorsement appearing on any packet produced pursuant to subsection (5) shall be, until the contrary is shown, sufficient evidence that the contents of the packet are as stated in the endorsement. | ||
(7) All documents sent by a local returning officer or a returning officer in pursuance of this Act to the Clerk of the Dáil, other than documents referred to in subsection (2), shall be open to public inspection at such time and under such conditions as may be specified by the Clerk. The Clerk shall supply copies of or extracts from the said documents to any person demanding the same, on payment of such fees not exceeding the reasonable cost of copying and subject to such conditions as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance. |