Spoilt ballots in Kerry were over 12 times higher than at last presidential election

While turnout in Kerry was the same as 2018’s presidential election, spoilt ballots meant the number of valid votes was reduced from 45 per cent of the electorate to 39 per cent.

Invalid votes were over 12 times higher, up from 565 in 2018 to a whopping 7,101.

To add to that, another seven per cent of votes had self-exiled Jim Gavin marked as first choice.

Labour Party councillor Marie Moloney attributed the protest to the selection of candidates.

Though she supported Catherine Connolly for president, she said she understood the frustration that voters had with the way nominees were put forward.

“The whole process from the very beginning is not democratic. Any party that’ll give a diktat not to allow an Independent onto the ballot paper – there’s something seriously wrong there,” said Cllr Moloney.

“Does that reflect more on the party than it does on the independent? It says that they’re afraid that if Independents get on the ballot paper, they might beat their own candidate…I just think that’s a crazy diktat to give out to be honest.

“I think the whole process is wrong from the beginning. We had good candidates coming forward in the likes of Sean Kelly and Billy Kelleher, and they didn’t even get a look-in. It’s not right.

“People didn’t have enough choice. They were unhappy with this election, but what can we do? I did my bit in Kerry County Council, I voted to nominate someone through the council and we did. So Kerry did its part.”

In most recent elections invalid votes have made up less than two per cent of all ballots nationwide, but in some boxes last week it was found more than 20 per cent of the votes spoilt.

With more than 200,000 votes spoilt nationwide, the highest ever number of spoilt votes in modern Irish history, the percentage of valid votes stood at only 40 per cent.

Spoilt ballots in Kerry contained messages of dissatisfaction with the three candidates on the ballot, electing alternatives such as Maria Steen, Conor McGregor and Manchester United defender Harry Maguire.

Following the narrowing of the presidential race to three candidates, the ‘Spoil The Vote’ campaign was launched on social media, headed by various influential online figures. Their website says they were “founded in response to growing public concern about the lack of genuine choice in the forthcoming presidential election” and it seems many felt the same.

Fine Gael councillor Tommy Griffin believes the record number of spoilt votes was due in part to ‘disgust’ with the recent budget and many feeling disillusioned with the current government.

“It’s about the government itself. We’ve had a horror budget; it did nothing for the working man. You have three million taxpayers who will be paying more due to the budget,” said Cllr Griffin.

“These are the people who are disenfranchised with the system and the government too. I listen to people all the time and they were absolutely and utterly disgusted.

“I don’t think it’s a reflection on any of the two candidates, it’s a message to the government of ‘we’re not fooled – you gave a commitment, and you didn’t follow through with it, and we’re not going to stand for it’.”

He also said the system for nomination needed to be overhauled and made more accessible to Independent candidates or those with the backing of non-parliamentary members.

Cllr Griffin regretted the withdrawal of MEP and Kerry native, Seán Kelly, who pulled out earlier in the race due to lack of support from the parliamentary party.

“The parliamentary party made the decision, and they really didn’t look at Sean Kelly’s track record and they didn’t really listen to the grassroots members or councillors,” said Cllr Griffin.

“It looks like the two parliamentary parties made their own decision over their two candidates and now they’ve got serious egg on their face.”

Sinn Féin councillor Paul Daly backed Catherine Connolly along with his party and was impressed with the way the now-president handled the pressure.

Ms Connolly received a majority of 80 per cent in some parts of the county.

Cllr Daly was present during some of the counting and, from what he saw, there were many reasons why ballots were spoilt.

“Some people saw it as protest against the government, some people thought there should have been more candidates, but that’s the way it played out this time…some people felt that was their way of protesting,”

“I think it was definitely a vindication of the party’s decision to back Catherine Connolly. It was a huge win for her. She came in for a lot of tricky questions over the course of the campaign and her honesty and integrity shone through.”

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting scheme