TURNOUT LATEST: Just one in five had voted in the Presidential Election in Laois with five hours remaining

Voting remains slow across the county with fewer than one in five registered voters having cast their ballots by 5pm.

With just five hours of voting remaining, tallies from the Presidential Election in Portlaoise, Portarlington and Mountmellick indicated a turnout of 19 percent while in Graiguecullen the figure was a little lower at 17 percent. Those numbers should rise this evening when many people will vote after work or when they arrive home. 

Of three booths with 1,924 voters in Knockmay National School in Portlaoise there were a total of 366 votes by 5pm. Three booths at Scoil Phadraig Naofa BNS in Mountmellick with 2,019 registered voters counted 386 votes and at Portarlington Presentation School where the three booths had 1,545 registered voters, the number of votes was 302. Meanwhile, out of the  2,131 registered voters in St Fiac’s Hall in Graiguecullen there were 381 votes at 5pm. 

Poor weather is believed to be a factor in the low turnout but the Presidential Election has also been under fire due to the low number of candidates on the ballot paper due to the nomination process. The backlash has included a campaign to spoil votes in the election. 

There are three candidates on the ballot paper Catherine Connolly, Heather Humphreys and Jim Gavin, who unusually dropped out of the race but remains on the paper. 

The voting will continue across the county until 10pm tonight. Voters do not need to have a polling card to vote and can use a valid identification card.