To Spoil or Not To Spoil
Despite attempts to limit news and social media, I'm not immune to the latest trends, and one campaign that has caught my eye is Spoil the Vote, established by popular "right-wing"﹡ online celebrities such as Michael Murphy, Elaine Mullaley and Paul Treyvaud, as well as businessman Declan Ganley.
At its core, this is an anti-Connolly and anti-government campaign with a sole focus on encouraging people to spoil the vote, essentially telling everyone that no choice on the ballot paper is suitable. A spoiled vote is perfectly legal and is still counted. The idea is that if many people spoil their votes, neither candidate can claim a popular mandate, which highlights dissatisfaction with the presidential candidate process and sends a message to the winner that they are not wanted.
It won't affect the election process. The candidate with the most first preferences will win, and the whole scandal might blow over in a couple of weeks, or it may spark some reform.
The campaign highlights a significant issue with the Irish presidential process. To be nominated, a candidate must satisfy one of the three criteria.
- 4 county councils nominate a candidate
- 20 members of the Dáil or Seanad
- Nominate themselves if they are currently the president
Looking at those 3 criteria, you can see how it's a bit of an insiders' club.
Most councils are controlled by the government, with two main government parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, using the whip system to ensure that only their own candidates appear on the ballot.
Since the government have a majority in the Dáil and Seanad, they also blocked candidates via this route, which meant that two of the three candidates nominated were government nominations. Akin to nepotism, it's a great insider club to be in, except that a majority of the Irish are not in it. Ireland has never had a government without Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael. In their desperation to cling to power, they joined forces, despite being arch-nemesis since the Irish Civil War. The idea of not being in control was a great motivator to rekindle old rivalries.
The third candidate was nominated by all the opposition parties coming together and nominating Catherine Connolly, someone described as extremely left-wing﹡. The opposition is even more unpopular than the government, hence why they are in opposition. The Irish public would rather take their chances with people who are experienced at incompetence rather than try someone who has no experience at being incompetent.
Overall, you can see what motivates the 'spoil the vote' campaign. They feel that a large part of the population has noone who represents Ireland. My own political choices evolve over time as new information becomes available, and I'm uncomfortable with the idea of spoiling a vote.
I would never tell anyone how to vote, but I do encourage people to vote. People died to give Irish men and women this opportunity. A vote is something all adults have equally. Even the rich can't buy your vote. It's yours and yours alone, regardless of class or creed. The presidential election, outside of referendums, is the only election in which we, as a country, select the candidate to represent us on the world stage as our Head of State.