'Incredible' that public reps spoiled votes, says Mayo councillor

IT is incredible that someone who puts their name on a ballot sheet would then ask people to spoil their vote.

That was the view expressed by Independent Councillor Patsy O'Brien at a municipal district meeting following the recent presidential election.

Mayo Aontú TD Paul Lawless and his party leader, Peadar Tóibín, both admitted spoiling their votes.

How any public representative could come out and say they had done so was 'incredible', commented Councillor O'Brien.

It is up to people to do what they want to do, but when the next general election comes round, will they ask the people to spoil their votes, he wondered. “I don't think they would.”

He added: “I think it is incredible that anyone who would put their name on a ballot paper would ask anyone to spoil their vote.” And he cried 'shame on the people who would say that'.

Fianna Fáil Councillor Damien Ryan said many people lost their lives for the right to vote and to go out and spoil your vote was 'a slur on democracy'.

Aontú's member of the local authority, Councillor Deirdre Lawless, in a statement, said there was a real opportunity to learn from the recent presidential election vote. “But following comments by a small number of councillors at the November meeting of the Claremorris MD, it is clear that nothing has been learnt.”

In a democratic society, you would not expect a concerted plan to actively block someone reputable from getting on the ballot paper, she commented. But the political establishment decided to keep the race to themselves and, as a result, hundreds of thousands of people felt they had nobody to vote for, so they either spoiled their vote or didn't vote at all.

“This was a sad day for many voters who reluctantly spoiled their vote or did not go out to vote. It is a real shame that Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and ex-party member do not see the issue here - people do not feel listened to by the political establishment.

“Those who spoiled their votes did not do so with a smile on their faces. They exercised their democratic right to vote with heavy hearts and a huge frustration at the farce that was the presidential race of 2025.”

* Published under the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme