Third Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1958

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Third Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1958
Flag of Ireland.svg
17 June 1959 (1959-06-17)

To alter the Dáil electoral system from single transferable vote to first-past-the-post
Results
Choice
Votes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes453,32248.21%
Light brown x.svg No486,98951.79%
Valid votes940,31196.00%
Invalid or blank votes39,2204.00%
Total votes979,531100.00%
Registered voters/turnout1,678,45058.36%

Irish Third Amendment 1958 Referendum.svg
Results by Dáil constituency

The Third Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1958 was a proposal to amend the Constitution of Ireland to alter the electoral system from proportional representation under the single transferable vote (PR-STV) to first-past-the-post (FPTP). The proposal was rejected in a referendum held on 17 June 1959. This was the same date as the presidential election in which Taoiseach Éamon de Valera was elected as president.

Contents

Background

Proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote had been used in Irish elections since the 1920 local elections. Under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, it was prescribed for elections to both the Southern Ireland House of Commons and the Northern Ireland House of Commons (Northern Ireland was to revert to FPTP for the 1929 election). The Constitution of the Irish Free State, adopted on independence in 1922, prescribed proportional representation for elections to Dáil Éireann. Under the Constitution of Ireland adopted in 1937, Article 16.2.5° prescribed PR-STV, while 16.2.6° specified that the number of members in a constituency would not be less than three.

An amendment to the 1937 constitution must be proposed as a bill initiated in the Dáil and be passed or deemed to have been passed in both the Dáil and the Seanad, before being submitted to a referendum in which all Irish citizens on the electoral register are eligible to vote.

Proposal

The amendment proposed to alter the electoral system for elections to Dáil Éireann to first-past-the-post (FPTP) under single-seat constituencies. It also proposed to establish an independent commission for the drawing of constituency boundaries on a constitutional basis. [1] It was introduced by the Fianna Fáil government of Éamon de Valera but was opposed by Fine Gael, the main opposition party, and by the Labour Party.

Oireachtas debate

The amendment was proposed by Taoiseach Éamon de Valera on 12 November 1958. [2] [3] It passed the Dáil on 28 January 1959 by 74 votes to 55. [4] On 19 March 1959, it was rejected in the Seanad by 29 votes to 28. [5] Under Article 23.1, the Dáil may vote to deem a bill to have been passed by the Seanad by a resolution passed after a period of 90 days from being sent by the Dáil to the Seanad. On 13 May 1959, the Dáil passed such a resolution by 75 votes to 56, and the bill proceeded to a referendum. [6]

Voter information

The subject matter of the referendum was described as follows: [7]

The Third Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1958 – At present, members of Dáil Éireann are elected on a system of proportional representation for constituencies returning at least three members, each voter having a single transferable vote. It is proposed in the Bill to abolish the system of proportional representation and to adopt, instead, a system of single-member constituencies, each voter having a single non-transferable vote. It is also proposed in the Bill to set up a Commission for the determination and revision of the constituencies, instead of having this done by the Oireachtas, as at present.

Result

Third Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland Bill 1958 [8]
ChoiceVotes %
Light brown x.svg No486,98951.79
Yes453,32248.21
Valid votes940,31196.00
Invalid or blank votes39,2204.00
Total votes979,531100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,678,45058.36
Results by constituency [8]
ConstituencyElectorateTurnout (%)VotesProportion of votes
YesNoYesNo
Carlow–Kilkenny 56,11762.3%16,47016,65849.7%50.3%
Cavan 36,76267.7%11,97511,67750.6%49.4%
Clare 47,22763.0%16,39012,29557.2%42.8%
Cork Borough 62,64756.6%15,02519,52343.5%56.5%
Cork East 35,19361.8%10,51010,42550.2%49.8%
Cork North 33,80570.6%10,89811,98647.6%52.4%
Cork South 35,23865.2%9,89811,94545.3%54.7%
Cork West 32,29066.1%8,67711,57342.9%57.1%
Donegal East 40,86355.8%13,9198,02663.4%36.6%
Donegal West 30,85050.2%8,6826,20758.3%41.7%
Dublin County 74,08450.9%15,66620,85242.9%57.1%
Dublin North-East 62,24155.5%13,09120,73838.7%61.3%
Dublin North-Central 24,94052.5%4,8627,73738.6%61.4%
Dublin North-West 31,44154.1%6,11610,40137.0%63.0%
Dublin South-Central 50,04548.6%9,40314,06840.1%59.9%
Dublin South-East 35,84558.2%7,24513,10935.6%64.4%
Dublin South-West 61,63152.6%12,27119,32738.8%61.2%
Dún Laoghaire and Rathdown 61,71653.2%11,85920,04337.2%62.8%
Galway North 28,58851.5%8,1505,93957.8%42.2%
Galway South 28,31862.8%10,1986,83959.9%40.1%
Galway West 29,88249.8%8,8405,49361.7%38.3%
Kerry North 43,71850.4%10,91010,01652.1%47.9%
Kerry South 30,63143.2%6,3306,21350.5%49.5%
Kildare 36,55261.7%9,48812,18643.8%56.2%
Laois–Offaly 56,58361.0%17,15515,85152.0%48.0%
Limerick East 45,98064.0%14,32813,59651.3%48.7%
Limerick West 31,99969.2%11,4999,44254.9%45.1%
Longford–Westmeath 49,24369.7%15,20517,79646.1%53.9%
Louth 40,20962.3%11,80112,42948.7%51.3%
Mayo North 32,35850.0%8,5416,71056.0%44.0%
Mayo South 46,46051.3%11,64611,16451.1%48.9%
Meath 37,68663.3%11,91211,16351.6%48.4%
Monaghan 29,37064.1%9,4988,20553.7%46.3%
Roscommon 38,65859.7%10,32211,80046.7%53.3%
Sligo–Leitrim 57,27154.6%14,11215,22448.1%51.9%
Tipperary North 32,46763.6%9,7669,63350.3%49.7%
Tipperary South 41,19670.5%13,56214,40648.5%51.5%
Waterford 42,77760.2%13,28911,48253.7%46.3%
Wexford 50,15062.7%14,85215,23349.4%50.6%
Wicklow 35,41954.1%8,9619,57948.3%51.7%
Total1,678,45058.4%453,322486,98948.2%51.8%

Aftermath

A second attempt by Fianna Fáil to abolish PR was also rejected by voters in the 1968 referendum on the electoral system.

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References

  1. "Third Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1958: Deemed to have been passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas" (PDF). Oireachtas. 13 May 1959.
  2. "Third Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1958 (Bill 25 of 1958)". Oireachtas debates. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  3. "Third Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1958—First Stage". Houses of the Oireachtas. Archived from the original on 12 April 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  4. "Third Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1958—Fifth Stage (Resumed)". Houses of the Oireachtas. Archived from the original on 12 April 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  5. "Third Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1958—Report Stage (Resumed) and Fifth Stage". Houses of the Oireachtas. Archived from the original on 13 April 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  6. "Third Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1958—Motion (resumed)". Houses of the Oireachtas. Archived from the original on 12 April 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  7. Referendum (Amendment) Act 1958, s. 5: Constitutional referendum in relation to Third Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1958 (Appendix) ( No. 5 of 1958, s. 5 ). Enacted on 18 March 1959. Act of the Oireachtas .Retrieved from Irish Statute Book .
  8. 1 2 "Referendum Results 1937–2015" (PDF). Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government . p. 21. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 December 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2018.