In Ireland, vote counting is about entertainment: votes are counted by hand for days in front of the public until the winners emerge.
14:41•Updated 15:14
All EU countries have had their election results calculated – except for one.
Ireland’s 14 MEPs are missing from the result.
Ireland uses the so-called transferable vote method. In it, the votes are counted many times before the candidates make it through.
The slowness of the vote counting is illustrated by the fact that so far only one MEP from Ireland has been declared elected, belonging to a centre-right group Sean Kelly. So there are still 13 members missing.
In this graphic you can see the preliminary result of the European elections, after the votes of all countries have been counted except for Ireland.
The formation of political groups has only just begun. Their number of seats may still change, as the parties without a group are looking for their political home.
The result in Ireland is unlikely to change the power relations of the new parliament. However, the race is very even.
According to predictions In Ireland, the parties belonging to the center-right EPP and the left-wing group are on the way to electoral victory.
The European Parliament’s liberal group can also increase its number of seats after the Irish results are reached.
According to forecasts, MEPs from Ireland representing the far-right or far-right are unlikely to be elected.
– Confirmation of the final results may take the weekend or even longer, the Irish office of the European Parliament tells .
The completion of the results is further slowed down by the fact that candidates may request a recount.
You have to book a ticket to follow the vote count
In Ireland, the counting of votes is such an exciting process that if you want to watch it on the spot, you have to book a ticket in advance.
Tickets are counted by hand in the large hall from about ten in the morning to ten in the evening. Anyone who has booked a ticket can come and watch the delivery.
In a nutshell, the Irish electoral system works like this:
The voter marks the desired number of candidates on the ballot in order of preference. When the counting of votes begins, the first votes received by each candidate are counted first.
If the candidate exceeds the vote threshold, he is elected. The “leftover” votes of this candidate will be transferred to the next highest vote-getter.
The candidate who has received the fewest number one votes is eliminated. The vote goes to the next candidate on the voter’s list.
Votes are counted round by round, until in the end there are only 14 selected candidates left.