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Investigates Investigates Money Diaries The Journal TV Climate Crisis Cost of Living Road Safety Newsletters Temperature Check Inside the Newsroom The Journal Investigates Daft.ie Property Allianz Home The 42 Sport TG4 Entertainment The Explainer A deep dive into one big news story Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture have your say Or create a free account to join the discussion Advertisement More Stories Taoiseach Micheál MartinLeah Farrell spoiled votes Taoiseach suggests referendum on changing 'restrictive' process for getting on presidential ballot One in eight votes were spoiled. 8.04am, 26 Oct 2025 Share options TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN has said the Oireachtas may have to look at changing the process by which a person gets on the ballot in presidential elections, which he described as “restrictive”. Martin was speaking to reporters yesterday evening in the wake of independent Catherine Connolly’s resounding victory in the presidential election, in which she won 63% of the vote. While Connolly won by a historic margin, another record was broken yesterday, more people than ever spoiled their votes (one in eight). Martin said: “It’s a worry, because I think, first of all, people are entitled to vote, people are entitled not to vote, and I suppose people are entitled in our system to spoil their votes.” Advertisement He said that this would need to be interpreted. “I think there’s probably an issue with the restrictive nature of how one gets on the ballot, and that’s something that, collectively, the Oireachtas can look at,” he said. There was a concerted campaign by people who supported the socially conservative would-be candidate Maria Steen, who did not make it onto the ballot, to encourage people to spoil their votes in protest at the nomination process. “A lot of parties didn’t nominate candidates this time, so hence, by definition, you were going to have fewer candidates,” Martin said. Changing the nomination process – whereby presidential hopefuls need 20 Oireachtas members or four local councils to back them – would require a referendum. “Ultimately, that’s the only way you could do it,” Martin said, adding that it would require “some work between the political parties in the intervening period”. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Support The Journal David MacRedmond View 35 comments Send Tip or Correction Embed this post To embed this post, copy the code below on your site Email “Taoiseach suggests referendum on changing 'restrictive' process for getting on presidential ballot ”. Recipient's Email Feedback on “Taoiseach suggests referendum on changing 'restrictive' process for getting on presidential ballot ”. Your Feedback Your Email (optional) Report a Comment Please select the reason for reporting this comment. Please give full details of the problem with the comment... This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy before taking part. Leave a Comment Submit a report Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines. Damaging the good reputation of someone, slander, or libel. Racism or Hate speech An attack on an individual or group based on religion, race, gender, or beliefs. Trolling or Off-topic An attempt to derail the discussion. Inappropriate language Profanity, obscenity, vulgarity, or slurs. Advertising, phishing, scamming, bots, or repetitive posts. Please provide additional information Thank you for the feedback Your feedback has been sent to our team for review. Leave a commentcancel Newly created accounts can only comment using The Journal app. This is to add an extra layer of security to account creation. Download and sign into the app to continue. Access to the comments facility has been disabled for this user View our policy ⚠️ Duplicate comment Post Comment have your say Or create a free account to join the discussion Fianna Fáil Micheál Martin Presidential Election spoiled votes News in 60 seconds done and dusted Inside the campaign: 'I got 2,000 likes on a post about Catherine. That's when I knew it was big' Jane Matthews Good Morning The 9 at 9: Sunday 18 mins ago Kamala Harris not ruling out another run at the White House 21 mins ago 7 deadly reads Sitdown Sunday: What spending three days in total darkness can do to the mind 21 mins ago Flying colours Designing a winning campaign: We spoke to the 26-year-old behind Catherine Connolly's graphics 51 mins ago Here are today's road closures for the Dublin Marathon Mind the App Opinion: The people of Dublin deserve a proper public transport app As it happened Catherine Connolly will be the 10th President of Ireland How did your constituency vote? 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