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Martin, who heads Ireland’s government, had personally backed Gavin as a presidential candidate. Though Gavin had stopped campaigning, his name remained on the ballot paper because of his late withdrawal from the race. He won 7% of first preference votes. Others — including musician Bob Geldof and the former mixed martial arts champion Conor McGregor — had indicated they wished to run for president but failed to receive enough backing for a nomination. The electoral commission said Saturday that there was a “significantly higher than normal” number of spoiled ballots, and that there will “clearly be a need for deeper and further reflection” about voter dissatisfaction. Simon Harris, the deputy premier, said the spoiled ballots showed “the number of people in Ireland now who are clearly feeling disaffected or disconnected with politics.” He said officials will be looking at the possibility of changing the threshold needed to secure a nomination in future presidential elections. About 46% of the 3.6 million eligible voters turned out to vote. There were nearly 214,000 invalid ballots nationwide, representing a tenfold increase on the last presidential election in 2018.
