A Garda file on alleged voter fraud in the Ballymote/Tubbercuryy electoral area of County Sligo during the last local elections is expected to be soon forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions for directions on how to proceed.
Today, Independent Socialist Cllr Declan Bree said he was hopeful of seeing those responsible being brought to justice.
Deputy Bree recalled that in July 2019, following the Local Elections and the serious allegations of fraud, he tabled a motion calling on the Garda authorities to carry out a full and comprehensive investigation into the matter.
He pointed out that while no electoral system is perfect, the system here had served the country well over the decades.
He also pointed out that our electoral system makes provision for people who are unable to go in person to vote at a polling station due to physical illness or disability to apply for inclusion in the Postal Voters’ list.
All such applicants are required to declare that they are ordinarily resident at the address given and they most provide the required medical cert signed and stamped by a doctor certifying that the applicant has a stated physical illness or a physical disability and is unable to go to the polling station to vote.
Cllr Bree said it has been his experience over the years that those people who applied for a postal vote because of a physical illness or disability were entitled to such a vote
But he said what happened in the Ballymote/Tubbercurry Electoral area in the Local Elections of 2019 was clearly suspicious.
