Big increase in Mayo electorate since 2020

Up to 113,000 people may be eligible to vote in Mayo in Friday's general election. 

The electorate in the county has grown significantly since the last election in 2020 when there were 98,165 eligible voters.

Mayo's population has increased since then but, more significantly, the total electorate has been boosted by the return of the part of South Mayo that had been in the Galway West constituency in 2020. This area includes The Neale, Kilmaine, Shrule, Cross, Glencorrib and Kilroe.

In 2023, the Electoral Commission recommended that the area in question, which consists of about 6,000 voters, be returned to Mayo, and that the county gain an additional Dáil seat to become a five-seat constituency once again. There are 16 candidates vying for those five seats, including three outgoing TDs.

Next Friday's general election will be a first for returning officer Dr Ann Marie Courell, a native of Ballina, who was appointed to the role in 2023. However, Dr Courell and her staff have already gained plenty of experience of elections in 2024 with local and European polls held in June as well as a referendum in March. 

“I’m really looking forward to it," Dr Courell told the Western People. "We’ve been preparing for this since after the local elections in June. It was really a bit of a baptism of fire having three electoral events in nine months but they have been vital as it has allowed us to get staff in place and have them trained up."

Polling stations open in Mayo at 7am on Friday next, November 29 and close at 10pm. The only exception is on the constituency’s islands of Clare Island, Inishbiggle and Inishturk, which have slightly altered voting hours.

Dr Courell said there will be two staff members per polling station. It means a total of 462 staff will be on duty on Friday with several supervisors working between stations to ensure there are no issues.

“We have required extra staff to work at polling stations in the areas in south Mayo that have been added to the Mayo constituency and I’ve liaised closely with Marian Chambers Higgins, the returning officer for Galway East and West, in that regard,” said Dr Courell.

She added that she is hopeful of good weather conditions for voters attending their local polling station. Last Friday, November 22, saw torrid, icy conditions that made some roads and most footpaths impassable.

“We were relieved that polling day was not last Friday. We wouldn’t want anything to impede voters,” she said.

The count will take place in the TF Royal Hotel on Saturday with the first boxes for postal voters and those on the special voters list opened at 8.30am. The remainder of the ballot boxes will start to be opened at 9am and the boxes from Ballina are to be opened first. Some 130 staff are lined up for the first day and this figure may be reduced for Sunday and Monday, should the count continue into a third day.

Dr Courell said it was hard to estimate when a first count could be expected but they are hopeful to have a first count by Saturday night.

“We have to be prepared to go on as long as needs be, and it is possible it will go onwards to Monday. There are a lot of excellent candidates, 16 in total, looking for five seats.

"It is important to get everything right and absolutely accurate. Timing is second to the accuracy and we have to be mindful of not having people work beyond midnight when you run the risk of fatigue,” she said.

Dr Courell's comments make it clear that she will not be extending the count into the early hours so it is likely that most of the seats in Mayo will be filled on Sunday rather than Saturday.