University of Dublin (constituency) - Electorate

Electorate

A Topographical Directory of Ireland, published in 1837, describes the Parliamentary history of the university.

By charter of James I. the university returned two members to the Irish parliament till the Union; after which time it returned only one member to the Imperial parliament, till the recent Reform act, since which it has returned two. The right of election, which was originally vested solely in the provost, fellows, and scholars, has, by the same act, been extended to all members of the age of 21 years, who had obtained, or should hereafter obtain, a fellowship, scholarship, or the degree of Master of Arts, and whose names should be on the college books : members thus qualified, who had removed their names from the books, were allowed six months to restore them, on paying a fee of £2, and such as continued their names, merely to qualify them to vote, pay annually to the college the sum of £1, or a composition of £5 in lieu of annual payment. The number of names restored under this provision was 3005, and at present the constituency amounts to 3135. The provost is the returning officer.

When electoral registration was introduced, in 1832, there were 2,073 voters on the register. It is likely that most of them were also qualified to vote in one or more of the territorial constituencies. It was characteristic of the University constituencies in the UK Parliament that plural voting was the norm.

In 1918, the electorate was extended to include all registered graduates of the University and some female voters were allowed for the first time. Male graduates qualified to vote if they had attained the age of 21 but female ones had to be at least 30 to acquire the franchise. There were 4,541 voters registered for the 1918 general election. Most, if not all, of those electors would have been plural voters also entitled to vote in a territorial constituency.

In the Electoral Act 1923, the Irish Free State abolished plural voting for University constituencies and enfranchised women on the same terms as men. Qualified voters could then decide whether to register for a University or a territorial constituency but not for both. Universal adult suffrage was not introduced in the UK until 1928. Plural voting was not abolished for UK elections until 1950.

The qualifications for an elector to be registered as a University voter were set out in Section 1(2)(c) of the 1923 Act. They were to be registered at "the University constituency comprising a university in which he or she has received a degree other than an honorary degree or, in the case of the University of Dublin, has received such degree as aforesaid, or obtained a foundation scholarship, or, if a woman, obtained a non-foundation scholarship".