More than 70,000 people spoil their vote in three separate polls

MORE than 70,000 people spoilt their vote in last Friday’s local, European and by-elections.

Figures compiled after the weekend ballot drama show that, despite a sea change in Irish politics, a significant number of voters turned down or missed the opportunity to make their voices heard in the high profile elections.

While the four European election constituencies had a total electorate of more than 3.2 million people for last Friday’s vote, the total number of people who used their ballot in the race for the 12 MEP seats was just 1.8 million – with 46,607 spoiling the ballot paper.