2019 Seanad by-election

A by-election was due to be held for a vacancy in the Agricultural Panel of Seanad Éireann on Friday, 22 November 2019. The vacancy was caused by the election of the Green Party's Grace O'Sullivan to the European Parliament. At the close of nominations on 1 November 2019, only one candidate had been nominated, and Pippa Hackett of the Green Party was deemed elected unopposed.[1][2][3]

Election system

The electorate in by-elections to the vocational panels consists of Oireachtas members only.[4] For this election, it consisted of 154 TDs and 59 senators. To be nominated, a candidate must have the signature of nine members of the Oireachtas. Nominations closed on 25 October 2019 at 12 noon.

All votes are cast by postal ballot, and counted using the single transferable vote. Under this system, voters can rank candidates in order of their preference, 1 as their first preference, 2 for second preference, and so on. Ballots are initially given a value of 1,000 to allow calculation of the quota (Droop quota) where all ballots are distributed in the case of a surplus.

Process and dates

Grace O'Sullivan resigned on 1 July 2019,[5] with a notice of the vacancy sent to the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government on 25 September 2019.[6] The minister is required to make a Seanad by-election order within 180 days after receiving a notice of a vacancy.[7] On 15 October 2019, Minister Eoghan Murphy made an order for the by-election which set the following dates:[4]

  • 25 October 2019: close of receiving nominations;
  • 1 November 2019: ruling on nominations;
  • 8 November 2019: issuing of ballot papers;
  • 22 November 2019, at 11 a.m.: close of poll.

Campaign

Pippa Hackett was announced as the Green Party candidate in September 2019. No other parties contested the by-election.[8] On 25 October 2019, it was reported that Hackett would be unopposed as no other individual received the necessary ten nominations from members of the Oireachtas to contest the election.[9] Hackett took her seat on 5 November 2019.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Green Party's Pippa Hackett elected to the Seanad". RTÉ News. 1 November 2019. Archived from the original on 3 September 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  2. 1 2 "Election of Member". Seanad debates. 268 (1). Houses of the Oireachtas. 5 November 2019. Archived from the original on 24 August 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  3. ↑ "Green Party councillor Pippa Hackett elected to Seanad". Irish Independent. 1 November 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  4. 1 2 "Seanad Bye-Election". Government of Ireland. 15 October 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  5. ↑ "Resignation of An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business". Seanad Debates. 266 (9). Houses of the Oireachtas. 27 June 2019. Archived from the original on 7 March 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  6. ↑ "Vacancy in Seanad Membership: Motion". Seanad Debates. 267 (3). Houses of the Oireachtas. 25 September 2019. Archived from the original on 18 October 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  7. ↑ Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act 1947, s. 56: Seanad bye-election order (No. 42 of 1947, s. 56). Enacted on 19 December 1947. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 6 June 2026.
  8. ↑ "Parties bow out in deal to let Pippa Hackett in to keep Greens' sole Senate seat". The Times. 22 September 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  9. ↑ "Green councillor Pippa Hackett to be elected a senator next month". The Irish Times. 25 October 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.