The weeks of campaigning are at an end, and polling stations will open at 7am this Friday morning for Local and European Elections, while Co. Limerick voters will have an additional vote to select the first ever Directly Elected Mayor of Limerick.
In Co. Limerick, 90 candidates have declared for the Limerick City and County Council Elections, and 40 members will be elected to the new council. In Cappamore/Kilmallock, there are 14 persons in contention for seven seats, while in Adare/Rathkeale there are 11 candidates for six seats, and in Newcastle West there are 12 contestants in another six-seater. In the European Election, 23 people are in the running for five seats in Ireland South, and 15 candidates are on the ballot paper for the historic election of a Directly Elected Mayor.
In Co. Cork, the Kanturk Electoral Area will see ten candidates vying for the four seats on offer, while 15 are on the ballot in the Fermoy Electoral Area, and the Mallow Electoral Area will see 10 hopefuls in pursuit of the five seats on offer.
The counting of votes in Limerick will take place at Limerick Racecourse on Saturday and Sunday, and it will also host the counting of votes for Mayor on Monday, and possibly Tuesday. Mallow Youth Centre will house the counts for North Cork.
Tally people will be in position early on Saturday morning to witness boxes being opened and voting papers sorted, and though the counting of votes won’t start until the European Election votes are separated from the other votes, tally people will have a good idea at that stage about who the winners and losers will be.
Polling booths across Cork and Limerick will be open from 7am to 10pm tomorrow, and contestants have been urging people, especially the youth, to vote on Friday.