Low vote turnout in urban Portlaoise as polling stations prepared to close
Other towns and villages in Laois attract nearly twice the percentage of voters
The voting is all done and dusted in Laois for the Local and European elections 2024, with polling stations closing at 10pm on Friday, June 7 after a hectic day around the county.
All that is left is just the small matter of counting votes for the 47 local candidates and 27 EU candidates, starting first thing on Saturday in Portlaoise, and possibly lasting into Monday and even Tuesday given the higher number of candidates this election.
The appetite for voting in urban Portlaoise appears to have remained possibly the lowest, despite the district having the most county council seats and the most candidates: seven seats sought by 20 candidates.
By 8pm, only 24% of the electorate at two sample booths, in Holy Family Senior School, had arrived to make their choices heard. A surge was still possible for the busy final two hours of voting.
In comparison, two of the booths in Rathdowney had recorded a 46% turnout by 8pm, closely followed by a sample count of 44% in Rosenallis village.
In Mountmellick town, a mix of urban rural voters, the turnout was 37%. Along with Rathdowney and Rosenallis, it forms part of the sprawling Mountmellick Borris-in-Ossory Municipal District, where 15 candidates vie for six seats on the western side of Laois.
The trend for some voters to refrain from voting in the European election continued into the evening, particularly in Portlaoise.
At the two selected Holy Family booths, almost one in six voters chose to only cast votes for the Local Election.
Over in Rathdowney it was about one voter out of eight.
In Mountmellick and Rosenallis, all but a handful of people voted in both EU and Irish elections.
The Leinster Express / Laois Live news team will be keeping readers up to date as seats are filled, starting first thing on Saturday morning, including a Live Blog.