Public Business. - Electoral (Amendment) Bill, 1946 —Committee and Final Stages.
No. 18 of 1946 ›
On the section, I do not quite approve of the wording of it. It provides that "where a Dáil election in any constituency is adjourned for the purpose of taking a poll," etc., "the Returning Officer, if he is of opinion that, owing to stress of weather or transport difficulties," etc. Should not the section begin with the words "Where the Returning Officer, if he is of opinion that, owing to stress of weather or transport difficulties" and so on, can adjourn the poll?
Comment on this
It is purely a matter of definition. The word "adjourn" is used to mean that there are more candidates than there are persons to be returned. In fact, it means that a poll is to be taken. It does not mean that the election is to be postponed, but rather the taking of a poll according to law.