Irish Parliament votes to ban late pre-election polls

By freedomforum.org staff

07.06.01

Printer-friendly page

The lower house of the Irish Parliament last night approved a government-backed measure banning public-opinion polls in the seven days before an election, an action that was promptly pounced on by an irate news media.

The measure would bar conducting or publishing a public-opinion survey within the week leading to the election, and would apply to presidential elections and elections to the Dáil, (the Irish Parliament) and the European Parliament as well as to local polls and referendums. Anyone who breaks the ban could be fined up to $110,000 and face up to two years in prison.

The Irish Times, the country's newspaper of record, said the measure would "deny citizens vital information that could assist them in terms of strategic voting and may well be unconstitutional."

Seamus Dooley, Irish organizer of the National Union of Journalists, said, "I regard the government and Fine Gael's (the majority party in parliament) action in pushing the bill through as a last-minute measure, without consultation, as flying in the face of democracy.

"I would have grave reservations at any piece of legislation introduced on a whim. The NUJ would support referring this bill to the Supreme Court so that the judiciary may give consideration to issues that were not debated in the Dáil," he said.

The National Newspapers of Ireland, in a statement, said it was "alarmed at the frightening speed with which Irish politicians have introduced legislation which prohibits the publication of opinion polls in the run-up to an election."

The statement added: "This new piece of legislation has been introduced to prevent the electorate from having access to the opinions of their peers at a time when they are in the process of choosing their next government."

The NNI went on to say that the right to know along with free access to information and the freedom to conduct opinion research at any time are basic rights in any democracy.

The measure now goes to the Seanad Eireann, the upper house of Parliament, which can delay or modify the action of the lower house. However, if a serious dispute arises, the lower house action will prevail. The upper house has limited powers and is an institution similar to Britain's House of Lords.

According to the Irish Times today, opposition Labour Party leader Ruairi Quinn said he hoped President Mary McAleese would intervene by referring the bill to the Council of State for whatever action that body might be able to take.

Even if the upper house passes the measure, the president, before signing it, could choose to refer it to the Supreme Court for a ruling on whether it fits constitutional provisions.

There have been Irish press reports that the government was warned, before the bill was passed by the Dáil, of constitutional problems, in particular, a provision that includes "the right of the citizens to express freely their convictions and opinions."

The government of Prime Minister Bertie Ahern introduced the bill following a by-election defeat last week and Ireland's narrow rejection last month of a referendum on the European Union's treaty for enlargement. Pre-election opinion polls were blamed for influencing the outcome in both votes.

Members of Parliament who passed the ban yesterday didn't wait around for the reaction to their vote. Today they started a three-month summer break, leaving behind what one newspaper referred to as "a storm of public criticism."

Update

Irish government drops bid to ban polls just before elections
‘Misjudgment,’ government calls proposal involving fines, prison for publishing public-opinion surveys in final pre-election week.  07.12.01