A Portuguese man suffered racial discrimination last year when polling staff “denied him the right to exercise his franchise” by refusing to give him a ballot for the local elections, a tribunal has ruled.
The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) on Wednesday upheld Carlos Manuel Garcia da Silva’s complaint of discrimination on grounds of race brought under the Equal Status Act 2000 against the Co Galway returning officer.
The tribunal made no award for financial redress and instead ordering extra training for polling station staff after hearing Mr da Silva and his wife were told they did not have the right to elect a local councillor despite living in Ireland for decades.
Mr da Silva told a hearing in October that he went out to vote at his local polling station in Ballybane, Co Galway, in June 2024 after “a long day at work”. He said he was a Portuguese national resident in Ireland for some 30 years.
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He told the tribunal he gave his driving licence to the officials issuing the ballot papers for the local and European elections proceeding that day.
He claims that, upon finding his name on the list, one of the women officials said: “There’s an ‘E’ here.”
A man official allegedly told him he was “only entitled to vote in the European elections”.
Mr da Silva said he was “very surprised” because he was “almost 100 per cent certain he was entitled to vote” in both polls.
He told the WRC he “hesitated” on the basis that “some new legislation” might have been passed modifying his voting rights, and it “never crossed his mind” the polling station staff might be wrong.
He said he went and cast his European election vote but felt “embarrassed” and as if he had done something wrong.
At 8pm that evening, the tribunal heard, Mr da Silva’s wife Maria de Almeida Silva arrived home, having gone to the same polling station to vote. She told the commission she was “angry and upset” because a poll clerk had told her she was not entitled to vote in the locals.
Her evidence was that, after challenging the poll clerk on that decision, the matter was referred to the presiding officer, who confirmed she had the right to vote in both elections, and she proceeded to do so.
Ms de Almeida Silva had suggested her husband go out again to cast his vote before polls closed at 10pm. The complainant decided not to, as he had been at work since 6am and was due back at the same time the following morning and did not want to make a second trip, the tribunal heard.
The husband and wife both pursued complaints under the equality legislation, arguing they were treated “less favourably” than an Irish person going to cast a vote.
David Higgins, of Berwick Solicitors, appeared for the returning officer, who he said accepted Mr da Silva’s evidence.
Counsel said the poll clerk made a “very unfortunate error” that was not corrected by the presiding officer. The returning officer was “very sorry that the complainant wasn’t allowed to vote”, he added.
WRC adjudicator Catherine Byrne wrote: “On the face of it, what occurred may seem like a minor issue, but, regardless of whether there was an intention to treat the complainant less fairly than an Irish person, the effect of the mistake is that he was so treated.”
“A mistake on the day of voting has an effect on the democratic process and, in the complainant’s case, the mistake denied him the right to exercise his franchise,” she wrote.
Ms Byrne found Mr da Silva would have got his ballot if he was Irish and concluded he was “discriminated against on the ground of his nationality”.
She upheld Mr da Silva’s complaint, but rejected a claim on the same grounds by his wife, heard jointly, on the basis that Ms de Almeida Silva was able to exercise her franchise.
Ms Byrne ordered that signs be put at the polling station giving the name and contact number of the person in charge to reduce the risk of someone entitled to vote being “prevented from doing so”.
