S.I. No. 372/2024 - Electoral (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2024

1. Number and polling district letters on Register of Electors

________________________________________________________

2. Address on Register of Electors referred to at 1 (

address in capitals

)

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

3. Contact details, including daytime and mobile telephone numbers

________________________________________________________

4. Form of photographic identification produced to witness and any identifying number on it

_______________________________________________________

Constituency/Candidate

5. Name of current Dáil constituency in which assentor’s address at 2 is located

________________________________________________________

6. Name of candidate (

name in capitals

)

________________________________________________________

7. Address of candidate (

address in capitals

)

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

Assent

8. I assent to the nomination of the candidate referred to at 6 and 7 at the next Dáil election to be held in the constituency in which the address at 2 is located at the time of the election.

9. I have not assented to the nomination of any other candidate at the election referred to at 8 or at any other Dáil election to be held at the same time as that election,

and I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true and by virtue of the

Statutory Declarations Act 1938

.

Signature of assentor _____________________________________________

Declared before me _________________________________________ [

name in capitals

] [a notary public] [a commissioner for oaths] [a peace commissioner] [a practising solicitor] [a member of the Garda Síochana] [an official of the registration authority] by ______________________________ who is personally known to me at __________________________________

[

place of signature

] this ________ day of ______________________ [

date

]

______________________________________

[

signature of witness

]

Garda Station/Registration Authority Stamp

[

where appropriate

]

FORM OF STATUTORY DECLARATION BY ASSENTORS TO NOMINATION OF CERTAIN CANDIDATES AT DÁIL ELECTION

NOTES

(Please read the notes carefully before completing the statutory declaration. These notes are for guidance only and do not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

General

The

Electoral (Amendment) Act 2007

(No. 14 of 2007) provides that, if a person is not a candidate of a registered political party, in order to be validly nominated to stand as a candidate at a Dáil election one or other of the following procedures must be complied with before the expiration of the time for receiving nominations

(i) the completion of statutory declarations by 30 assentors to the nomination who are registered as Dáil electors in the relevant constituency. The assents must be witnessed by a Notary Public, a Commissioner for Oaths, a Peace Commissioner, a practising solicitor, a member of the Garda Síochána or an official of the registration authority (City or County Council), or

(ii) the candidate, or someone on his or her behalf, lodging a deposit of €500 with the returning officer.

This form is to be used for making statutory declarations of assent under (i) above; copies of the form are available free of charge from returning officers and registration authorities.

An assent is valid only in respect of the Dáil constituency in which the assentor’s address at the time of assent is located at the next election.

An assent may be made at any time but it may only be used at the next general or bye-election in the relevant constituency.

Responsibility lies with the candidate or his/her proposer at the election to secure the necessary assents, to attach the 30 statutory declarations to the nomination paper and to deliver all the documentation to the returning officer by the deadline for receipt of nominations at the election.

A returning officer may rule as invalid a nomination paper from a candidate who has opted for the assenting alternative if he or she considers that the candidate has not complied with the statutory requirements relating to assenting.

Notes to Parts of Form

All parts of the form must be completed.

Parts 1

and

2

: The assentor should enter his/her number and polling district letters (Part 1) and address (Part 2) as stated on the Register of Electors. The Register may be inspected at the city or county council’s offices or on their website; at libraries, post offices and Garda Stations; and through www.checktheregister.ie.

Part 3

: Enter contact details, including daytime and mobile telephone numbers.

Part 4

: Each assentor must, when making the statutory declaration, bring one of the following photographic documents for identification purposes – passport, driving licence, employee identity card containing a photograph, student identity card issued by an educational institution and containing a photograph, bank card with a photograph, a travel document containing name and photograph, or a Public Services Card.

One of the documents must be produced to the witness taking the statutory declaration, and the type of document must be recorded in Part 4 along with any identifying number on it (e.g. passport number).

Part 5

: Enter the name of the Dáil constituency where the address at Part 2 of the form is located on the date of the making of the statutory declaration. It should be noted that an assent is valid only in respect of the Dáil constituency in which the assentor’s address at the time of assent is located at the next election (general election or bye-election).

Parts 6

and

7

: Enter the name (Part 6) and address (Part 7) of the candidate whose nomination is being assented to.

Part 8

: This is the formal assent to the nomination of the candidate at the next Dáil election to be held in the constituency in which the address at Part 2 is located at election time.

Part 9

: The assentor has to confirm on the statutory declaration that he or she has not assented to the nomination of any other candidate in the election concerned or at any other Dáil election to be held at the same time as that election.

The assentor must sign the declaration in the presence of the witness.

Witness to Statutory Declaration

The statutory declaration must be witnessed by a Notary Public, a Commissioner for Oaths, a Peace Commissioner, a practising solicitor, a member of the Garda Síochána or an official of the registration authority. Where the necessary ID is produced under Part 4, the law provides that this is sufficient for the witness to sign on the form that the assentor is personally known to him/her.

In the case of Gardaí or registration authority officials, the declaration must be stamped with the official stamp of the garda station or registration authority in the box provided.

Penalties

Under the

Statutory Declarations Act 1938

, a person who knowingly makes a false or misleading statutory declaration in any material respect is liable on conviction to a fine of up to €2,539 or imprisonment for a term of up to 6 months or both.”

3 The Electoral (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (

S.I. No.142 of 2024

) are hereby revoked.

GIVEN under my hand,

25 July 2024

MALCOLM NOONAN

Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(

This note is not part of the instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.

)

In these regulations the lists of photographic identifications that may be produced (i) when a statutory declaration is being made by a person who lives in the relevant constituency is assenting to the nomination of a candidate at an election and (ii) which a voter may be required to produce at a polling station, are amended to remove the reference to identifications acceptable only for local elections.

In these regulations a revised form of Nomination Paper to be used at a Dáil election is prescribed for the purpose of removing of ‘unsound mind’ from the disqualifying criteria for election to or membership of the Dáil.

A revised form of Statutory Declaration for Assentors is also prescribed for.

10. Penalties

There are penalties for –

(a) producing a forged

(i) nomination paper, or

(ii) certificate of political affiliation

to the returning officer (

sections 138

and

142

),

(b) without the consent of the person concerned

(i) nominating such person as a candidate, or

(ii) withdrawing the candidature of such person (

section 141

),

(c) making a false declaration with respect to the eligibility of a candidate for election (

section 143

).

Penalties under the

Statutory Declarations Act 1938

in respect of knowingly making a false or misleading statutory declaration are set out at paragraph 2 above.”

(d) the substitution of the following Schedule for the Second Schedule to the said Regulations –

“SECOND SCHEDULE

FORM OF STATUTORY DECLARATION BY ASSENTORS TO NOMINATION OF CERTAIN CANDIDATES AT DÁIL ELECTION

I __________________________________________________ (

assentor name in capitals

) do solemnly and sincerely declare the following -

Particulars of Assentor

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of

26

th July,

2024.

I, MALCOLM NOONAN, Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by

sections 3

,

46

and

111

of the

Electoral Act 1992

(No. 23 of 1992) and the Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) (No. 2) Order 2024 (

S.I. No. 268 of 2024

)), hereby order as follows