PART III.

Dáil Sub-panel Vacancies.

19. —Whenever the Minister has made a bye-election order in respect of a vacancy in the membership of Seanad Eireann which is stated in such order to be a vacancy in respect of the Dáil sub-panel of a particular panel, the Seanad returning officer shall hold, in accordance with this Part of this Act, an election to fill such vacancy and shall for that purpose send to the Clerk of Dáil Eireann a copy of the said bye-election order together with such number of forms of nomination paper as such Clerk shall reasonably require.

20. —(1) The following provisions shall, apply and have effect in relation to the nomination of candidates at an election to fill a Dáil sub-panel vacancy, that is to say:—

(a) every such nomination shall be made in writing on a nomination paper in the prescribed form;

(b) every such nomination paper shall contain the particulars required by the prescribed form of nomination paper to be stated therein, and in particular, a statement of the qualifications of the person thereby nominated for the panel mentioned in the relevant bye-election order;

(c) every such nomination paper shall be signed by one member of Dáil Eireann as proposer and by eight other members of Dáil Eireann as assenting to the nomination;

(d) every such nomination paper shall be delivered or sent by post to the Seanad returning officer.

(2) Whenever the Seanad returning officer receives a nomination paper before four o'clock in the afternoon on the day before the day which is appointed by the relevant bye-election order to be the last day for receiving nominations, the Seanad returning officer shall forthwith communicate in writing to the Clerk of Dáil Eireann the fact of such nomination paper having been so received and the name, address, and description, as stated in such nomination paper, of the candidate thereby nominated and the name, as similarly stated, of the proposer of such candidate.

(3) As soon as may be after twelve o'clock noon on the day which is appointed by the relevant bye-election order to be the last day for receiving nominations, the Seanad returning officer shall send to the Clerk of Dáil Eireann a list stating (in the alphabetical order of their surnames and, in case of identity of surname, their other names) the names, addresses, and descriptions, as stated in their respective nomination papers, of the candidates in respect of whom he had received nomination papers before twelve o'clock noon aforesaid and also stating, in respect of every such candidate, the name, as similarly stated, of his proposer.

(4) Every nomination paper received by the Seanad returning officer after twelve o'clock noon on the day which is appointed by the relevant bye-election order to be the last day for receiving nominations shall be void.

(5) If a member of Dáil Eireann signs two or more nomination papers as proposer or as assenting (whether he signs both or all of such nomination papers in the same or in different capacities), both or all of such nomination papers shall be wholly void.

21. —(1) Where a bye-election order relates to a Dáil sub-panel vacancy, the Seanad returning officer shall, at eleven o'clock in the morning on the day appointed by such bye-election order for the ruling upon nominations, attend at the place similarly appointed and then and there hold a sitting (in this Act referred to as the ruling upon nominations) at which he shall rule upon the nominations in respect of which nomination papers were received by him before twelve o'clock noon on the day appointed by the said bye-election order to be the last day for receiving nominations.

(2) The following provisions shall apply and have effect in relation to every ruling upon nominations held in pursuance of this section, that is to say:—

(a) the Seanad returning officer shall produce the several nomination papers received by him before twelve o'clock noon on the last day for receiving nominations and shall consider and rule upon the validity of each such nomination paper and of the nomination purported to be made thereby;

(b) the Seanad returning officer shall reject as invalid the nomination of any person in respect of whom he rules that the nomination paper of such person or the nomination thereby made is invalid or in respect of whom he is not satisfied that such person possesses the qualifications stated in sub-section 1° of section 7 of Article 18 of the Constitution in respect of the panel mentioned in the relevant bye-election order;

(c) the Seanad returning officer shall rule as valid every nomination which he does not reject in pursuance of the next preceding paragraph of this sub-section;

(d) when the Seanad returning officer rules as valid the nomination of any person, he shall forthwith enter in a list (in this Act referred to as the panel of candidates) the name, address, and description of such person as stated in his nomination paper and the name of his proposer as similarly stated and a statement, in such form as the Seanad returning officer thinks proper, of the qualifications which he determines to be in fact the qualifications of such person to be on the panel mentioned in the relevant bye-election order;

(e) when the Seanad returning officer has considered and ruled upon all the said nomination papers and the nominations made thereby, if only one person stands validly nominated the Seanad returning officer shall declare that person to be elected and shall so inform the Clerk of Seanad Eireann, but if two or more persons so stand validly nominated, the Seanad returning officer shall adjourn the election and take a poll in accordance with the subsequent provisions of this Part of this Act.

(3) Immediately upon the completion of the ruling upon nominations, the Seanad returning officer shall sign the panel of candidates and that panel as so signed shall be conclusive evidence as to the persons who stand, or person who stands, validly nominated.

22. —(1) Whenever the Seanad returning officer adjourns an election under this Part of this Act for the purpose of taking a poll, he shall forthwith inform the Clerk of Dáil Eireann in writing of such adjournment, and send to him a copy of the panel of candidates, and the said Clerk shall, not more than four days after being so informed, furnish to the Seanad returning officer a statement of the names, addresses, and descriptions of all the members of Dáil Eireann who are then entitled to sit and vote in that House.

(2) The statement furnished to the Seanad returning officer by the Clerk of Dáil Eireann in pursuance of the foregoing sub-section of this section shall constitute and be the electoral roll for the election and shall be final and conclusive.

(3) The several persons named in an electoral roll constituted under this section, and no other person, shall be entitled to vote at the poll at the election in respect of which such electoral roll is so constituted.

(4) The death of a person named in an electoral roll constituted under this section (whether such death occurred before or after the statement forming such electoral roll was sent by the Clerk of Dáil Eireann to the Seanad returning officer) shall not prejudice or affect the validity or operation of such electoral roll.

23. —Every poll taken at an election under this Part of this Act shall be taken in the like manner, as nearly as may be practicable, as a poll at an election under the Principal Act, and for that purpose sections 40 to 43 and sections 45 to 49 of the Principal Act and the First and Second Schedules to that Act shall apply and have effect in relation to every election held under this Part of this Act at which a poll is taken, but with and subject to the modifications that the expression “Seanad election” wherever it occurs in any of the said sections or Schedules shall mean an election under this Part of this Act and that sub-section (1) of the said section 45 shall be construed and have effect as requiring the Seanad returning officer, at the time and in the manner mentioned in that sub-section, to ascertain the result of the election and to declare to be elected the candidate who is so ascertained to be elected.