What you need to know ahead of the calling of the General Election later this week

After much speculation over the last number of weeks, the General Election is less than a couple of days away from being announced. Polling day is likely to be Friday, November 29 if current predictions are anything to go by.

Now that crunch time for election candidates is almost up on us, here is everything you need to know about the weeks ahead as a voter.

The moment the General Election is officially announced, posters, canvassers, debates and more will follow and it can often be difficult to make sense of it all especially when it only happens every four or five years.

Here is everything you need to know about the election process, what you can expect to see in the coming months and what role you can have in this as a voting member of the public.

Who decides when to call a General Election?

The last General Election was held in February 8, 2020 and the next election has to occur within the next five years, in this case, before March 2025.

To call a General Election, the Taoiseach must go to Áras an Uachtaráin and ask the President to dissolve the current Dáil.

The President will then dissolve the Dáil upon the Taoiseach's request. While the President reserves the right to refuse the dissolution of the Dáil, no president has ever formally done so.

When does a General Election happen?

The General Election must happen within thirty days of the President formally dissolving the current Dáil. This action is then followed by the Clerk of the Dáil issuing a writ to the returning officer in each of the forty three constituencies, telling them to hold an election for the assigned number of TDs in each constituency.

The polling day is set by the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government.

It is important to note that an election date must take place between the 17th and 25th day after the issue of the writ of the Clerk of the Dáil. This timeline excludes Good Friday, Sundays and public holidays.

When does campaigning start and what will that look like?

Once the date is officially set, candidates may start campaigning and canvassing for your vote. Canvassing for a vote includes postering, televised debates, sending out election leaflets and door to door calls from candidates and their teams asking for voting preferences.

All parties and candidates must abide by strict governing rules on how they campaign. Candidates and parties must also abide by governing laws around how much money can be spent on their campaigns.

The legal limit on spending by candidates depends on the number of seats that are being contested in their constituency.

The maximum that a candidate can spend on a Dáil election is:

- €45,200 per candidate in a five-seat constituency

- €37,650 per candidate in a four-seat constituency

- €30,150 per candidate in a three-seat constituency

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If a candidate receives at least one quarter of the quota of votes for the constituency, they can claim back up to €8,700 in election expenses.

Candidates are allowed to up posters thirty days before the polling date, or from the date that the ministerial polling day order, whichever is the shortest period.

On polling day, you cannot display posters or campaign for a candidate or party within 50 metres of a polling station.

Failure to remove election posters within seven days after the polling date is an offence.

How to vote in a General Election

Typically speaking, polling stations are open from 7am until 10pm on the day of the election (polling day) to allow everyone the chance to cast their vote. 

Circumstances may arise where it is not possible for someone to vote in person and in those cases under limited circumstances, you may be eligible to cast a postal vote.

To do this, you must be registered on either the postal voters list or the special voters list in advance of the election.

If you cannot attend on the day of the election and do not qualify as a special or postal voter, you will be unable to vote.

What seats are available to be filled by candidates?

Aside from the Ceann Comhairle, who is re-elected automatically as a member of the next Dáil, the upcoming General Election will be contested across forty three constituencies.

This election follows a number of increases in constituencies and seats available with an increase of four constituencies from the last election.

An additional increase of fourteen deputies to the Dáil brings the number of seats available in this General Election up to 174 meaning eighty eight TDs will be required to form a majority government instead of eighty.

The increase in the number of constituencies comes from the implementation of recommendations from the Electoral Commission review as many existing constituencies have seen boundary changes. 

These changes could impact the dynamic of the General Election at a local level.

The aftermath of polling day

The day after polling day begins the vote count which starts at 9am and can often take several days to carry out depending on the number of candidates in each constituency.

The final seats which are filled in the later stages of the count are made up of the remaining transferable votes and also a recounts.

Typically speaking, the new Dáil meets within thirty days of polling day.

However, a precedent was set by the last government who took four months to form after the last polling day making it difficult to call how long the new government will take to form following the upcoming election.