Voting in the 2024 Local and European Elections is officially underway as the polling stations are now open.
Those registered to vote can do so between 7am this morning and 10pm tonight.
In Laois, the total electorate that was registered to vote in February was 66,049.
This figure will have increased as more people have been registered since then up to the closing date a couple of weeks ago.
However, we won’t be provided with an updated Register until after the elections.
Five years ago, in the 2019 elections, the total electorate was 62,407 so it demonstrates again how the population in Laois continues to grow.
There are 48 polling stations across Laois with a total of 114 boxes.
In Laois, there are three electoral areas – Portlaoise, Graiguecullen-Portarlington and Borris-In-Ossory-Mountmellick.
Portlaoise has the biggest population and will elect seven Councillors.
While Graiguecullen-Portarlington and Borris-In-Ossory-Mountmellick will each elect six.
The electorate will also be asked to vote in the European Elections with Laois now part of the Midlands North-West constituency.
There are 27 candidates here and they will battle it out for the five available seats.
The constituency takes in 15 counties across three provinces with a population – according to the 2022 census – of 1.8 million people.
All of Connaught, Donegal, Monaghan and Cavan from Ulster plus Laois, Offaly, Kildare, Westmeath, Longford, Meath and Louth.
The polls will close at 10pm tonight and the business of counting will begin on Saturday.
The votes for this year’s Local and European Elections in Laois will be sorted in the sports hall in Scoil Chríost Rí on the Borris Road in Portlaoise.
The Local Election votes will then be moved to the Civil Defence building (formerly Ging’s) in Kea Lew Business Park where they will be counted.
The European votes will be brought to Castlebar where that count is on.
Scoil Chríost Rí is a new location for the ballot boxes to be opened on Saturday, June 8.
In 2019 that was done in St Mary’s Hall with the votes then counted in a warehouse in Kea Lew adjacent to where this year’s count will be on.
Donal Brennan, who is a Director of Services in Laois County Council, has been confirmed as the Returning Officer in Laois, as he was at the last Local Elections in 2019.
The ballot boxes for the three Local Election areas will be opened by Rory Hanniffy, County Registrar, who is also the European Returning Officer for Laois.
In a letter to confirmed to the 47 Local Election candidates, Donal Brennan said the ballot boxes will be opened at 9am.
He adds that he expects to receive the votes “at approximately 6 o’clock”. The counting of the votes will then formally start.
In 2019, the first announcement of a first count didn’t come until 7pm on Sunday and the count finished close to 11pm on Monday.
On this occasion there are 47 candidates, compared to 39 five years ago.
We will bring you all of the updates as they happen across the next few days on our Live Blogs.
SEE ALSO – Check out all our 2024 Local Election coverage here
SEE ALSO – Check out all our 2024 Local Election coverage here
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