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An Irish Free State Senate Election

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

Harold F. Gosnell
Harold F. Gosnell*
Affiliation:
University of Chicago
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Extract

In the fall of 1925 a unique electoral experiment was carried out in the Irish Free State. Nineteen senators were elected according to a system which presents a peculiar combination of electoral features. The aim of the framers of the Free State constitution was to provide a second chamber composed of men of experience and recognized ability. To this end they devised the following system: (1) the entire nation was to serve as a single electoral constituency; (2) the nomination of the candidates was left to Parliament; (3) the franchise was limited to citizens over thirty years of age; (4) the Hare system (single transferable vote) of proportional representation was to be used for the marking and counting of the ballots; (5) the senators were to be elected for twelve-year terms; and (6) onefourth of the senators were to be elected at each triennial election.

Type
Foreign Governments and Politics
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , February 1926 , pp. 117 - 120
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1926

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References

1 Article 30.

2 Electoral Bill, Saorstat Eireann, 1923, No. 1.

3 Articles 38–39.

4 Humphreys, J. H. in the Manchester Guardian, September 28, 1925Google Scholar (letter to the editor).

5 The Irish Times, September 17, 1925.

6 It is really the construction of a psychological rating.

7 Irish Times, September 16, 1925.

8 Ibid., September 12, 1925.

9 Irish Independent, September 21, 1925.

10 The Republic, September 11, 1925. An Phoblacht, “Boycott the Election.”

11 Irish Independent, September 18, 1925.

12 The election was held on September 17, 1925, and the count was finished on October 10, following. The result was officially declared on December 6.

13 See the files of the Irish Independent and the Irish Times. Also consult special article in the Irish Times, October 12, 1925.

14 Ibid., October 10, 1925.

15 Irish Times, September 24, 1925, “Effect of Local Vote.”

16 Ibid., October 10, 1925.

17 The election of the Dail is carried out according to the Hare system, but the country is divided into districts for this purpose. For a description of the election of the Dail in 1923 see Humphreys, J. H., “The Irish Free State Election, 1923,” Contemporary Review, October, 1923Google Scholar.

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