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All eyes are on Ireland as the country prepares for its upcoming Presidential election. This year, a surprising twist has emerged — an unusually high number of spoiled ballots featuring unexpected names, including U.S. President Donald Trump. Other unexpected names have also surfaced, such as Conor McGregor, Gavin Pepper, and Nick Delehanty, among others. In the Dublin Bay South area alone, spoiled ballots reportedly account for 8–10% of all votes — adding further intrigue to this election. Meanwhile, the outstanding election stats at the moment recently saw candidate Jim Gavin withdraw from this race. Interestingly, his name has also been found in the spoiled votes, adding to a bit of surprise. The counting of ballots began on the morning of Saturday, October 25, and the world is eagerly awaiting to know who will be crowned as the next president of Ireland. Candidates Catherine Connolly and Heather Humphreys seem to be leading the pack at the moment, with the former having a higher margin currently, leading many to believe that she could be the third female president that the country would witness. The anticipation for the final results is palpable. Speaking about Connolly, she happens to be a left-wing independent candidate who has made her mark with her striking liberal viewpoints. Additionally, her tiff with Donald Trump and the fact that she fearlessly picks a spade against the U.S. President has caused considerable buzz around her already. Connolly’s chief contender, Heather Humphreys, on the other hand, had been a former cabinet minister. Her previous experience in government is believed to give her an edge over Connolly. All in all, the next incumbent president would succeed Michael D. Higgins, who has already exhausted the maximum two seven-year terms in the Presidential chair. His fame also extends to his role as a respected poet and a former arts minister. The counting of ballots in Ireland will begin everywhere at 9 a.m., across a total of 31 centres. These votes collected are representative of 43 constituencies worldwide, and every ballot will be tallied by hand to ensure accuracy. Speaking about Ireland’s voting pattern, every individual voter is allowed to rank their preferences from the given candidates. This time around, with only three candidates with their names on the ballot, there can be no more than two counts for each of them. Although chances are there that the final counting of votes might be completed by the afternoon, the end result will only be announced once all the constituencies finish counting. Leading the charts till the polling day, Catherine Connolly has overtaken Humphreys; however, the final voter turnout might still affect and determine the final margin. Meanwhile, Connolly herself was spotted arriving to vote at a primary school in Claddagh. Later on, she spent some time with the students as she read each one of their essays about the presidency. Meanwhile, a percentage of voters have claimed dissatisfaction over the absence of any right-wing candidates on the ballot, which have left them feeling misrepresented. As a result, widespread calls for spoiling ballots emerged, with voters expressing frustration over the lack of a candidate they felt represented them.
