S.I. No. 195/1961:

DÁIL ELECTIONS FREE POSTAGE REGULATIONS, 1961.

DÁIL ELECTIONS FREE POSTAGE REGULATIONS, 1961.

I, MICHAEL HILLIARD, Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 50 of the Prevention of Electoral Abuses Act, 1923 (No. 38 of 1923), hereby make the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Dáil Elections Free Postage Regulations, 1961.

2. The Interpretation Act, 1937 (No. 38 of 1937), applies to these Regulations.

3. In these Regulations--

" the Act " means the Prevention of Electoral Abuses Act, 1923 (No. 38 of 1923);

" agent " means an election agent of a candidate;

" candidate " means a candidate in an election;

" communication " means a communication entitled to be sent free of any charge for postage by a candidate to an elector;

" constituency " means a constituency for a Dáil election;

" election " means a Dáil election;

" elector " means a person registered as an elector in a register for a constituency;

" the Minister " means the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs;

" postal vote " means a vote cast by an elector on the postal voters' list for a constituency;

" postal voters' list " means the postal voters' list for a constituency in a Dáil election.

4. (1) Subject to the provisions of these Regulations, no communication addressed to an elector in any constituency shall be posted, conveyed or delivered by post unless the communication is posted within the constituency.

(2) Where the permission of the head postmaster of the district in which communications are to be posted has been obtained, a candidate or his agent may post communications addressed to electors in a constituency adjoining that district.

5. Notice of intention to post communications shall be given by the candidate or by his agent not later than the day before posting to the head postmaster of the district in which they are to be posted.

6. A communication addressed to an elector in any constituency may be posted at any post office in that constituency, or, if the permission of the head postmaster of a district in the constituency has been obtained, at a sub-post office in that district.

7. Where a candidate or his agent wishes to post communications at different post offices within a constituency he shall make arrangements for that purpose before doing so with one only of the head postmasters in the constituency.

8. The following conditions shall apply in relation to communications:--

(a) communications shall either be enclosed in closed or unclosed covers or be folded in at least three folds, provided that a communication which, in the opinion of any officer of the Minister, is likely to impede sorting or to become unfolded or to entrap other postal packets if sent folded shall not be so sent,

(b) the words " Litir um Thoghchán " or the words " Election Communication " shall be printed or stamped or legibly written at the top of the address side of the communication or, if the communication is enclosed in a cover, of the cover and no other matter shall appear thereon, except the elector's name, address, voter's number, the electoral division and the notice referred to in paragraph (b) of Regulation 12 hereof,

(c) communications shall not exceed nine inches in length and four and one half inches in width and the weight of the communications shall not exceed two ounces,

(d) communications shall be handed in between the hours of ten o'clock in the forenoon and four o'clock in the afternoon at such post office as shall be designated for that purpose by the head postmaster to whom notice of intention to post such communications has been given,

(e) communications shall be--

(i) faced the same way,

(ii) tied in bundles of 120 communications, and

(iii) as far as possible sorted according to streets or districts,

(f) where permission has been given by a head postmaster to post any communications addressed to places outside the constituency, those communications shall be tied in separate bundles,

(g) the Minister shall not be under any obligation to deliver wrongly addressed or insufficiently addressed communications,

(h) each batch of bundles of communications tendered for posting shall be accompanied by two certificates in the form set out in the First Schedule hereto and the certificates shall be signed by the candidate or his agent,

(i) the officer of the Minister to whom a batch of bundles of communications is tendered by any person for posting shall stamp one of the certificates mentioned in paragraph (h) of this Regulation with the date stamp of the post office at which the batch is tendered for posting and return it to that person,

(j) the number of communications mentioned in the certificates referred to in condition (h) of this Regulation shall be conclusive evidence of the number of communications posted by the candidate.

9. Where a candidate wishes to exercise the right of free postage of communications before he becomes entitled to do so under the powers contained in section 50 of the act, the following provisions shall apply:--

(a) the candidate shall deposit £50 in respect of each constituency in which he desires to post the communications with the head postmaster with whom the arrangements for such posting are made as security for the payment of postage in the event of the candidate not becoming entitled to exercise the right of free postage,

(b) if the candidate--

(i) fails to secure nomination,

(ii) withdraws from his candidature, or

(iii) is returned unopposed,

an account of such amount of postage as the Minister may consider proper shall be rendered to the candidate and the balance, if any, of the deposit after deduction of the amount of the account aforesaid, shall be returned to the candidate,

(c) each batch of bundles of communications tendered for posting shall be accompanied by two certificates in the form set out in the First Schedule hereto and the certificates shall be signed by the candidate or his agent,

(d) the officer of the Minister to whom a batch of bundles of communications is tendered by any person for posting shall stamp one of the certificates mentioned in paragraph (c) of this Regulation with the date stamp of the post office at which the batch is tendered for posting and return it to that person,

(e) the number of communications mentioned in the certificates referred to in paragraph (c) of this Regulation shall be conclusive evidence of the number of communications posted by the candidate,

(f) if the election is uncontested in the candidate's constituency, no communications shall be accepted for transmission after the expiration of the time limited for making withdrawals of candidature without prepayment of postage therefor.

10. In addition to the provisions contained in Regulation 8 of these Regulations, the following provisions shall apply in relation to a communication intended for a member of the Defence Forces:

(a) the communication shall be addressed to the officer in charge of enlisted personnel, Department of Defence, Parkgate Street, Dublin 8,

(b) the address on the communication, or, if the communication is enclosed in a cover, on the cover shall include the voter's service number, if known, his rank, his surname and other names in full, and the name of his unit,

(c) the voter's number in the postal voters' list shall be inserted on the top left-hand corner of the address side of the communication, or if the communication is enclosed in a cover, of the cover.

11. Communications addressed to a postal voter's home address and redirected from there shall not be forwarded without a postal charge unless the new address appears sufficient and the communication is re-posted not later than the day after the delivery thereof.

12. The following provisions shall apply in relation to communications of a candidate which cannot be delivered for want of a sufficient address or for any other good reason:

(a) the communications shall be forwarded to the head post office of the district in which they have been posted and held there for three days,

(b) (i) on application by the candidate or his agent during the three days referred to in the preceding paragraph at the office mentioned in that paragraph and on payment of a search fee of three pence, every communication which bears on the left hand half of the address side thereof or, if it is enclosed in a cover of the cover, a notice in the form set out in the Second Schedule hereto shall be handed to the candidate or his agent,

(ii) every communication in respect of which the requirements of the preceding subparagraph in relation to the notice therein referred to have not been complied with shall, if it bears on the address side thereof, or, if it is enclosed in a cover, of the cover a request for return and the name and address of the candidate or his agent, be returned to the candidate or his agent, as the case may be, on payment of the appropriate charge for postage,

(c) communications not disposed of under the last preceding paragraph may be dealt with or disposed of as the Minister may think fit.

13. Any cover enclosed in a communication for the purpose of a reply thereto shall be marked "Postage to be prepaid".

14. No communication shall be posted less than three clear working days before the date of the poll and, where the frequency of postal delivery in a place is less than daily, no communication addressed to such place shall be posted less than a week before the date of the poll.

15. Joint candidates who are treated as a single candidate under the act may between them post only one communication to an elector and all the provisions of these Regulations shall apply to such communication and the deposit which is required under these Regulations as security for the payment of postage shall not exceed, in the case of joint candidates, a total sum of £50.

16. All regulations made under Section 50 of the Prevention of Electoral Abuses Act, 1923 (No. 38 of 1923) before the date of the making of these Regulations are hereby revoked.

FIRST SCHEDULE.

Form of certificate to accompany each batch of bundles of communications tendered for posting.

PREVENTION OF ELECTORAL ABUSES ACT, 1923 .

This is to certify that   unpaid communications have been tendered for posting at the hour of  on the  day of  , 19 at   Post Office on behalf of     

______________________________________________________________________________

for the office of Deputy of Dáil Éireann.

* Strike out where not required.

I declare that each communication contains matter relating to the election only, is identical as regards its contents with the specimen produced for inspection and retention, and is addressed to a duly registered elector for the   constituency of    and that to the best of my knowledge and belief no more than one unpaid communication has been tendered for posting to any one registered elector on behalf of the said           either today or previously and I hereby undertake to pay postage on any communications found to have been posted on behalf of the said candidate in excess of one for each registered elector in the said constituency.

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Post Office

Date Stamp

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SECOND SCHEDULE.

Notice.

If undelivered to be returned at once to the head post office of the district of posting.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 26th day of August, 1961.

MICHAEL HILLIARD.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

This Instrument prescribes the conditions under which a candidate at a Dáil Election may send by post, free of postage, one communication relating solely to the election to every person registered as an elector for the constituency.