‘There is very little to do apart from wait’
At 9am today, ballot boxes are to be opened in community halls, hotels, theatres, and GAA clubhouses across the country, which will be used as count centres in the coming hours and perhaps days as rounds of eliminations, vote transfers, and recounts continue.
But the count is just the beginning for political parties and Independent candidates, who will be turning their attention away from their own constituencies to forming a government.
As voting patterns become apparent in the coming hours the main political parties will move to establish negotiating teams and reach out to potential partners.
Across all the count centres a strict procedure will be followed under the direction of the returning officer while groups of party tallymen — and tallywomen — anxiously count ballot papers to get a picture of how people have voted. The wait for an initial tally is excruciating for those hoping to win or maintain a seat.
Fine Gael’s Olivia Mitchell, who stepped away from the Dáil after almost 20 years as a TD, said she used the morning of count day to catch up on weeks of neglected housework.
Here are the turnout figures and what the party leaders are saying https://t.co/LP1MyOyBUz pic.twitter.com/gMPjnVUh3F
— Irish Examiner (@irishexaminer) February 26, 2016
“I would turn off the radio and clean the house until my husband rang to say how the tallies were going so I had some idea of how well it was going before I made my way to the count centre,” said Ms Mitchell, who ran in six general elections.
“You get someone close to you to let you know.
“I generally was very delighted to stay in bed until around 9am after weeks of a campaign. So I would have a slow morning, a slow breakfast and I would spend the morning cleaning the house, that was the way I spent my time. I generally didn’t go to the count centre until around teatime.”
Returning offers received ballot boxes from polling centres last night and they were under garda protection until this morning.
Martin Harvey, returning officer for Cork North Central and Cork South Central, said: “The boxes are opened; the papers are unfolded and placed in such a way so the tallymen can see them.
“The counters are physically counting the ballots to ensure that the number in the box with the number that the presiding officer has returned on their ballot paper account form.”
After this, quotas are decided and the count can begin.
Ms Mitchell said tallymen are invaluable to candidates with some able to forecast eliminations and transfers well in advance. “Tallymen can look at the second, third, and fourth preferences and figure it out from there,” she said. “If you have people who are particularly good at that they can predict who is going to get and who is not going to get a seat.”
Who would win the election if it was based on tweets? https://t.co/E6oiKgjwBp (DOD) #GE16 pic.twitter.com/pDmkwI6ges
— Irish Examiner (@irishexaminer) February 26, 2016
This is perhaps one of the only times where political parties will work with each other.
Outgoing Leas-Cheann Comhairle Micheal Kitt said: “We usually combine with other parties to try get an accurate tally.”
Mr Kitt, who stepped away from politics before the election after first entering the Dáil in 1975, said count day for him was the worst part of any campaign.
“On count day the votes are all there so you can’t do anything about it, there is very little to do apart from wait,” he said. “The last time my son and daughter went up to the count and they gave me a ring when there was good news, for me it was around 1pm when the tally came through, so I then went up to the count centre shortly after that.
“I really liked the election campaign but I dreaded the count because someone is going to be disappointed, and it is usually around 1am or 2am before you get official word. You will know how it’s going but you are waiting for the returning officer.
“After that there may be some interviews to do on television or radio even at that time in the morning, you may not get to bed until 5am or 6am.”
Mr Kitt said he was lucky that the Galway East constituency count usually finished in the early hours of the first day of counting, while neighbouring Galway West took a second day and in other areas it may be into Monday before the final seat is filled.
It is up to each returning officer to decide when to finish the first day of counting. Mr Harvey said: “Between 11pm and 12am we take the decision as to whether to continue counting or not. If it is looking like it will be decided by 3am or 4am we will continue, if it is looking like longer we adjourn until the morning.
“The important thing is to have fresh eyes looking at the papers.”
As seats begin to fill up, political parties will have little time to celebrate — or lick their wounds — as they face the task of forming a government.
While Fine Gael and Labour maintain they want to remain as coalition partners, whether this will be possible will depend on the numbers. Fine Gael director of elections Brian Hayes said: “It all depends on the results and whether Fine Gael and Labour have sufficient numbers of seats to possibly get a number of Independents in to form a government.
“I imagine it will be a number of days before parties will be looking to that. The final results may not be until late on Sunday or maybe even Monday.”
For more election news, analysis and general banter join us HERE
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
