In the presidential election, voter turnout bucked a downward trend and rose from 43.87 per cent in the 2018 contest to 45.83 per cent this time around.
Ironically, the increased turnout was helped by highly motivated online campaigns from various groups mobilising the electorate to cast their ballot with a spoiled vote, at a record level of almost 13 per cent.
Turnout was highest in the constituency of Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys, where 55.41 per cent of the electorate cast their ballot.
Donegal had the lowest turnout, with just 39.76 per cent exercising their franchise.
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Tánaiste Simon Harris’s Wicklow constituency recorded the second-highest turnout at 51.65 per cent, followed by Roscommon-Galway with 51.25 per cent.
Victor Catherine Connolly’s Galway West constituency had the fifth-highest turnout at 48.99 per cent.
Second from worst turnout was in Dublin South-Central where just 41.08 per cent went to the polls. Only fractionally higher was Dublin Bay South on 41.86 per cent.
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Traditionally presidential elections have the lowest turnout of all elections. Turnout for the general election last year was just shy of 60 per cent compared with the 43.87 per cent in the 2018 presidential election, the worst on record.
In the 2011 presidential election 56 per cent voted and in the 1997 election 48 per cent did. When Mary Robinson was elected in 1990, some 64 per cent voted, second only to the 1966 two-candidate contest eventually won by the incumbent president Éamon de Valera, where 65.3 per cent voted.
Concern was expressed this election would hit a historic low, but UCC professor Theresa Reidy, an expert in voter behaviour, gave several reasons to explain the bounce in votes.
Catherine Connolly’s campaign did a lot “in mobilising younger voters”, while “on the other end there were certain voters enraged at the lack of choice of candidates, and mobilised to participate in the process”.
Prof Reidy said while media focused on graphic spoiled votes, most “were just an X across the ballot or in the boxes” indicating their dissatisfaction with the choice of candidates.
The last time there were just two contestants was in 1973 and when voters go to the polls they generally get a choice “from across the ideological spectrum”.
In 2018 “we had six candidates and in 2011 seven”. Prof Reidy said “we don’t have to change the requirements” for nomination but “political parties need to change” restrictions on their councillors to nominate at local authority level.
An Coimisiún Toghcháin said there was still a “significant body of work to be done” to improve turnout, which was “higher than the expectations of many analysts”.
A spokesperson for the Electoral Commission said its education and public engagement strategy is one of its highest priorities including “community education and groups who experience specific barriers to access”.
