No. 34/1968:

REFERENDUM (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1968

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

1 Constitutional referenda in relation to Third Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1968, and Fourth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1968.

2 Amendment of Fourth Schedule to Electoral Act, 1963.

3 Short title, collective citation and construction.

AN ACT TO AMEND THE REFERENDUM ACTS, 1942 TO 1963.

[6th August, 1968.]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:—

1.—At a constitutional referendum in relation to the Third Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1968, and at a constitutional referendum in relation to the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1968—

( a ) a polling card sent under section 64 (1) of the Electoral Act, 1963 , shall contain the statement set out in the Appendix to this section,

( b ) a polling card shall also be sent by the local returning officer for a constituency to every elector whose name is on the register of Dáil electors for such constituency and is on the postal voters list for such constituency,

( c ) a polling card sent under paragraph (b) of this section—

(i) shall indicate that it is for a postal voter and shall accordingly not state the number and place referred to in the said section 64 (1),

(ii) shall contain the statement referred to in paragraph (a) of this section, and

(iii) shall be sent by post to the elector at the same time as his ballot paper is sent, being addressed to him at the same address as is stated on the envelope in which the ballot paper is sent,

( d ) subsections (3) to (6) of the said section 64 shall apply in relation to polling cards sent under paragraph (b) of this section,

( e ) copies of the statement referred to in paragraph (a) of this section shall be displayed by a presiding officer in and in the precincts of his polling station:

Provided that no referendum shall be invalidated by reason of any failure to display such copies in or in the precincts of any polling station,

( f ) in applying Rule 18 (inserted by the Electoral Act, 1963 ) of the First Schedule to the Referendum Act, 1942, the following paragraph shall be substituted for paragraph (5)—

"(5) ( a ) Where a ballot paper is to be marked pursuant to paragraph (3) of this Rule, the presiding officer may assist the voter by reading out in full from the ballot paper the proposal stated therein and asking the voter 'Do you approve of or do you object to that Bill becoming law?' and shall then, unless it is a case to which subparagraph (b) of this paragraph applies, mark the ballot paper in accordance with the answer of the voter, but he shall not act on any written instruction.

( b ) Where the voter fails to understand the import of the said question, the presiding officer—

(i) shall read out to the voter such summary of the proposal which is the subject of the referendum as is contained in the statement set out in the Appendix to section 1 of the Referendum (Amendment) Act, 1968 ,

(ii) shall then ask the voter 'Which do you wish to do-to vote in favour of the proposal to change the Constitution? or to vote against the proposal to change the Constitution?', and

(iii) shall then mark the ballot paper in accordance with the answer of the voter, but shall not act on any written instruction."

APPENDIX

1. You may vote at the Referenda on two proposals:—

WHITE BALLOT PAPER

THE THIRD AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION BILL, 1968, proposes that in forming Dáil constituencies, the population per deputy in any case may not be greater or less than the national average by more than one-sixth and that regard must be had to the extent and accessibility of constituencies, the need for having convenient areas of representation and the desirability of avoiding the overlapping of county boundaries.

GREEN BALLOT PAPER

THE FOURTH AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION BILL, 1968, proposes— (1) To substitute for the present system of voting at Dáil elections the "straight vote" system in single member constituencies; (2) To establish a Commission to determine constituencies, subject to the right of the Dáil to amend the constituencies as so determined; and (3) To provide that whenever the Dáil is dissolved the outgoing Ceann Comhairle may be returned, without a contest, as a second deputy for a constituency chosen by him which consists of, or includes a part of, the constituency he represented before the dissolution.

2. If you APPROVE of the proposals in the Bill to which the ballot paper relates, mark X opposite the word YES on the paper.

3. If you DO NOT APPROVE of the proposals in the Bill to which the ballot paper relates, mark X opposite the word NO on the paper.

4. Copies of the Bills can be inspected and purchased for sixpence each at any Post Office.

2.—The Fourth Schedule to the Electoral Act, 1963 , is hereby amended by the substitution for Part I of the following Part—

"PART I

FORM OF BALLOT PAPER AT CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM

(Front of Paper)

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Note:—The back of each ballot paper shall be numbered consecutively and the back of the counterfoil attached to it is to bear the same number. The number on the back of the ballot paper shall be printed in the smallest characters compatible with legibility."

3.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Referendum (Amendment) Act, 1968 .

(2) The Referendum Acts, 1942, to 1963, and this Act may be cited together as the Referendum Acts,

(3) This Act shall be construed as one with the Referendum Acts, 1942 to 1963.