Polls open at 7am on Saturday

From polling station one in St Anne’s NS, Bailieboro to polling station 142 in Moybolgue/Trohanny, all across Cavan preparations are in train for Saturday’s General Election, writes Thomas Lyons.

The 142 polling stations in the Cavan part of the constituency include six in Co Meath and all of those in west Cavan previously attached to Sligo Leitrim, which have now being returned to Cavan Monaghan. This constituency now has five seats to fill in Dáil Éireann and 13 candidates are in the race (see pages 20-21).
Returning Officer for the County of Cavan, Joe Smith, has given notice that the Poll takes place this Saturday, February 8, between 7am and 10pm.
The total electorate for County Cavan is 58,901; with an additional 3,751 from Meath North.

Tactile templates have been developed for the upcoming elections. The returning officers in each constituency have made provisions for the vision impaired voter wishing to vote in secret. The electors can ask the Presiding Officer at their polling station to attach a ballot paper template to the ballot paper. This is a raised numbering and Braille on the template that guides to the relevant openings that correspond to the candidates on the ballot paper.
A freephone number 1800 200 717 is available for visually impaired voters at this election. However all voters can use the number to familiarise themselves with the candidates. There are 13 candidates and they are described in the order they appear on the ballot paper. The freephone message is available both in Irish and English.
On polling day those who wish can use a ballot paper template which is placed on top of the ballot paper and has raised numbers corresponding to the candidate number.
Voters can also use mobile phones in the polling station centre on polling day to access this information.

Counting will get underway this Sunday, February 9, at 9am, in the Cavan Leisure Centre. The Celt’s news team will be there to bring you regular updates on our website - www.anglocelt.ie - throughout the day as seats are filled.