Voting
The electoral college for the vocational panels are City and County Councillors, members of the new Dáil and members of the outgoing Seanad. The electorate consists of approximately 1,000 voters.
Voting is conducted by proportional representation by the single transferable vote. However, each ballot is given the value of 1,000 to aid the transfer of fractions of votes.
There is a guaranteed minimum number of members that can be elected from each sub-panel. This was designed to allow nominating bodies a greater influence in the election of Senators. However, in practice, the political parties also dominate the nominating bodies sub-panel nominations and the electorate.
In a by-election to the vocational panels, the nomination procedure is the same. However, as there is only one seat available, there can be no minimum number elected from sub-panels. The electorate for a by-election for a vocational panel seat are members of the Dáil and Seanad so the Government party or parties win the seat unless there is a cross-party arrangement.
Read more about this topic: Vocational Panel
Famous quotes containing the word voting:
“It’s not the voting that’s democracy, it’s the counting.”
—Tom Stoppard (b. 1937)
“All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or backgammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and wrong, with moral questions; and betting naturally accompanies it. The character of the voters is not staked. I cast my vote, perchance, as I think right; but I am not vitally concerned that right should prevail. I am willing to leave it to the majority.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Common sense should tell us that reading is the ultimate weapon—destroying ignorance, poverty and despair before they can destroy us. A nation that doesn’t read much doesn’t know much. And a nation that doesn’t know much is more likely to make poor choices in the home, the marketplace, the jury box and the voting booth...The challenge, therefore, is to convince future generations of children that carrying a book is more rewarding than carrying guns.”
—Jim Trelease (20th century)