McMahon v Attorney General

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judgment Date: 01 January 1972
• Date: 01 January 1972
• Docket Number: [1970. No. 168 P.]
• Court: Supreme Court

(S.C.)

McMahon

and

Attorney General

"Secret ballot" - Ballot paper and counterfoil bearing the same serial number - Counterfoil also bearing the number of the voter on the register of electors - Electoral Act, 1923 (No. 12), ss. 21, 24, 26 and Schedules3-5 - Electoral Act, 1963 (No. 19), s. 16 -Constitution of Ireland, 1937, Articles 16, 34, 50.

Article 16, s. 1, sub-s. 4, of the Constitution of Ireland, 1937, states that "no voter may exercise more than one vote at an election for Dáil Éireann, and the voting shall be by secret ballot". The plaintiff, a citizen of Ireland, brought an action in the High Court and claimed a declaration that certain provisions of the Electoral Acts 1923 and 1963 were invalid having regard to the provisions of the Constitution. Rule 22 in Part I of the Fifth Schedule to the Act of 1923 requires that an elector's number on the...