Posted by We want another General Election” – Candidate Michelle Keane claims that votes were removed from ballot boxes on polling day
In the General Election, Ms. Keane won more than 1,500 first preference votes, however she was defeated on the ninth count before the election of Independents Michael and Danny Healy Rae, Pa Daly of Sinn Fein, and Norma Foley of Fianna Fáil, reports The Mirror.
Ms. Keane filed an ex parte case, in which only one party is represented, before the High Court on Friday, designating the Irish Government, Returning Officer Padraig Burke, and the Clerk of the Dáil as respondents. Under Sections 130 and 131 of the election Act of 1992, Ms. Keane informed Mr. Justice Garret Simons that she was requesting information “in the public interest and for democratic transparency and accountability and electoral fairness.”
Additionally, the appellant is attempting to force the respondents to provide an explanation for the ballots that, according to Ms. Keane, “tore out right in front of me on the night of November 29, 2024, when I attended the polling station,” reports The Mirror.
Mr. Justice Simons stated that as it was now more than three months after the election, any petition challenging the results should have been filed within 28 days of the polling day. Ms. Keane said that officials were “fobbling off” her attempts and that the records she was attempting to get may be destroyed six months after the election.
She informed Mr Justice Simons that she “needed the marked register to cross check” the election because “people have a right to know where their vote went” and that she had received feedback from voters that they had cast ballots for her. Adding, “We live in a democracy,” reports The Mirror.
“I physically saw a presiding officer tear out the ballots and I made a formal statement to Gardaí and that is still under investigation,” she said, reports The Mirror.
When Mr. Justice Simons enquired as to whether Ms. Keane was attempting to have the Kerry election results overturned, she was informed that this was one of the components of her application.
According to Ms. Keane’s declaration, she was the only one there when two election workers were “tearing out ballot papers from the ballot box” at the Toureencahill polling station at around 8:45 p.m. that evening, reports The Mirror.
According to Ms. Keane, “after an election, the marked register showing who voted is available for inspection by certain individuals or entities” in accordance with the Electoral Act of 1992.
Ms. Keane argues that in order to verify voter participation or look into the legitimacy of the election, political parties and candidates have the right to examine the voter registration, reports The Mirror.
On Tuesday, Mr. Justice Simons promised to deliver his ruling about the application.
Ms. Keane was imprisoned at Listowel Circuit Civil Court on December 11 for defying an order prohibiting her from posting anything about Listowel Garda Sergeant Melanie Walsh on the internet. The Ennis Circuit Civil Court ordered Ms. Keane to take down all of the sergeant’s social media posts in July, reports The Mirror.
Additionally, the injunction prohibited Ms. Keane or any other entity working with her from posting any more remarks against Sergeant Walsh on the internet. It was claimed that the Garda was recognisable even though the sergeant’s name was not mentioned in a post from November 28. In her affidavit, Ms. Keane stated that she was not in violation of any court orders.
After agreeing to stop writing about the sergeant online, the mother of two was freed by Killarney Circuit Civil Court on December 13, reports The Mirror.
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This is a huge accusation and I don’t believe she would make such an accusation in court if she didn’t know it to be true I physically saw a presiding officer tear out the ballots and I made a formal statement to Gardaí, which is still under investigation
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If only we didn’t have the geographical constituency system, I would have voted for Michelle Keane. She had a no-nonsense agenda that put the Irish first in our own country, and prioritised the most vulnerable of us (including unborn babies).
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