EXPLAINER: From PR-STV to tallies - all the election terminology you need to know!

Elections to county councils, city councils and city and county councils are held in Ireland every five years.

Every person over 18 years whose name is included in the electoral register is entitled to vote in the local area in which they live.

You do not need to be an Irish citizen to vote in a Local Election, so many migrants and people from new communities can vote in Local Elections.

If it’s your first time voting, or if you just need a refresher on how things work, we’ve broken down some of the common terminology around local elections in Ireland.

LEA
A LEA, a local electoral area, is an electoral area for elections to local authorities. Ireland is divided into 166 LEAs across the 31 councils across the country.

PR-STV
Proportional representation by single transferable vote is the electoral process used in Ireland. When you vote with more than one preference, you are instructing the returning officer that if your preferred candidate is eliminated, or elected with a surplus of votes, you want your vote to be transferred to your second choice candidate. F

Polling Station
This is where you go to cast your vote, depending on where you live or where you’re from. Generally, it will be a community building, like your local school, a town hall, community centre, etc.

Polling Card
Find out where your polling station is by checking your polling card, which you get in the post in the build up to the election. It’s a card with your name, address and polling station, which you bring along on election day. It’s always advisable to have your polling information card with you but you can vote without it; just make sure to bring a valid form of personal ID.

Ballot Paper
Your ballot paper is a sheet of paper with all of the candidates on it which you use to cast your vote. Number them according to your preferences – use one of the numbers or all of the numbers – whatever you wish. For elections, a ballot paper is a list of candidates, with their photos. There will be instructions on how to correctly fill out your ballot on the paper itself, follow these to ensure your vote is valid and is not spoiled.

Ballot Box
The ballot box is where you place your ballot after you have cast your vote. Ballot boxes are taken to count centres where each ballot paper is checked. Any spoiled ballots are discarded and all the valid ballots are counted. Counting typically starts at 9am on the morning after election day.

Exit Poll
An exit poll is a poll of voters taken immediately after they have exited the polling stations on the day of the election. They are typically used to give an indication of voter turnout, ad

Returning Officer
The returning officer is the person responsible for overseeing elections. In local elections, the position is held by the administrative head of the local council.

Quota
To be elected, a candidate must generally reach the quota for the constituency. The last seat can be filled by a candidate who did not reach the quota if all the other candidates have been elected or eliminated.
The quota is calculated by dividing the total valid poll by one more than the number of available seats (if there is a number to carry over, it is ignored), and then adding one.

Tally
A tally is an unofficial record of all the first preference votes counted in an election. Tallymen from across all political parties will typically work together to record the number of first preference votes for each candidate. This list is usually an accurate representation of how a vote will go and who will be elected.