Election literature distributed on behalf of Fianna Fáil novice candidate Gráinne Seoige has caused consternation among supporters of a sitting TD.
A pamphlet designed by Fianna Fáil to mimic a Galway West ballot paper was distributed to thousands of homes across Galway three days before this Friday’s general election, but omitted outgoing TD Catherine Connolly from its list of 16 (sic ) candidates.
Including Deputy Connolly, who is also the current Dáil’s outgoing Leas-Cheann Comhairle, there are 17 candidates running in Galway West.
“It’s certainly remarkable; even more remarkable from a woman that [she] would leave a strong, female candidate off the list,” said Connolly, who also described Fianna Fáil’s leaflet as “misleading”.
“I don’t think it was a mistake. I was bemused when I saw it – after other emotions - and I took it as an indirect compliment that [Fianna Fáil] need to annihilate my candidacy.”
The reverse of a pamphlet asking readers to ‘Vote Seoige 1 this Friday’ includes an image of a sample Galway West ballot paper with only 16 of the 17 candidates listed on it. Seoige’s box is ticked ‘1’ while her Fianna Fáil running mate, city councillor John Connolly, is ticked ‘2’.
A spokeswoman for Fianna Fáil said: “The Party has provided a number of template Eve of Poll leaflets to our candidates around the country. We are aware of an error [on] one leaflet in Galway West which we are working to rectify.” Party officials did not respond to queries whether FF director of elections, minister for finance Jack Chambers, signed off on the ballot paper template used by a number of FF candidates.
“One would presume that if this leaflet was looked over by someone before it was sent to the printers, that if it was a mistake, it would be corrected,” said Connolly. “Are they planning on ‘rectifying’ it after the election? I certainly haven’t received any kind of apology. Ta mo dhóthain ráite agam.”
A Connolly staffer said campaign volunteers were “livid” after spotting the erroneous sample ballots stuffed in letter boxes all over Galway city.
It is understood up to 15 separate complaints or queries were made to the Galway County Registrar’s office regarding the FF leaflet, including from three candidates. Galway’s general election Returning Officer, Marian Chambers Higgins, said the leaflet “should not be considered a sample ballot, despite being labelled as such, as it is not reflective of the correct candidate list in Galway West.”
Meanwhile, another Eve of Poll pamphlet produced by Fianna Fáil’s Dublin HQ for fellow Galway West candidate John Connolly has raised eyebrows in his camp. The pamphlet – yet to be distributed at time of writing – also features a sample ballot, except this time non-Fianna Fáil candidate names are blank. Gráinne Seoige appears higher up the list than Connolly despite the fact that on a real ballot paper, candidate names are always listed alphabetically.
Legal sources say the use or misuse of official election material as political advertising comes under Section 4 of the 2022 Electoral Reform Act, but this section has not yet been commenced by the relevant minister. Section 5 is concerned with content of online communications only.
Currently, the content of printed material is not scrutinised by the Electoral Commission, but this is expected to change pending new European directives earmarked for 2025.
