The number of people who spoiled their votes in the presidential election appears to be at unprecedented levels, according to the early tallies.
Tallies from the Catherine Connolly campaign indicate they believe there are about 30,000 spoiled votes so far, and the total figure could end up at about 10 per cent of those who voted.
High levels of spoiled votes are being seen in working-class areas, in particular, though large numbers are appearing in most boxes opened so far.
The total number of spoiled votes will become clear later in the day. At the last 2018 presidential election, spoiled votes totalled 18,438, accounting for 1.2 per cent of the total.
At the RDS in Dublin, where the majority of the capital’s votes are being counted, a number of ballots with “not my president”, “she was only 10″ and “Maria Steen No 1″ could be seen.
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The writing of “she was only 10″ refers to a 26-year-old man who is alleged to have assaulted a 10-year-old girl in Saggart outside an accommodation centre for asylum seekers. The man is before the courts and cannot be identified due to the nature of the charge against him.
A spoiled vote in Killarney, Co Kerry among many of those emerging from boxes around the country on Saturday morning 
Spoiled votes from the Dublin South West count centre as the first boxes are being opened for counting of presidential votes at Dublins RDS count centre. Photograph: Alan Betson
Other spoiled votes had “Connor”, “Dustin the Turkey”, “Donald Trump” and “Ipas centres out of here” written on them.
A tally of a box from Cherry Orchard in west Dublin included 120 spoiled votes, with about 130 first preferences for Catherine Connolly, 11 for Heather Humphreys and just one for Jim Gavin.
A box from Chapelizod, in the Dublin South Central constituency, included a spoiled ballot that had images of Maria Steen and Nick Delahanty stuck on to the sheet of paper and “fiasco” written at the top.
A spoiled vote in Sligo-Leitrim 
A spoiled vote in Sligo-Leitrim 
Spoiled votes from boxes at Dublin’s RDS count centre. Photograph: Dan Dennison 
Spoiled votes from boxes at Dublin’s RDS count centre. Photograph: Dan Dennison
Labour leader Ivana Bacik has expressed concern about what she described as an orchestrated spoiled-vote campaign.
“I’m really alarmed to see the level of vitriol and the messages that are being written on the ballot papers,” she said.
“It is some sort of orchestrated campaign here,” she said.