Explained: Everything you need to know about the upcoming general election

After weeks of speculation, shocking revelations and many left reeling by the 2025 Budget, a General Election will take place before the end of the year, it has been confirmed.

The moment the General Election is officially announced there will be posters, canvassers, debates and more and it can often be difficult to make sense of it all, especially when it only happens every four or five years.

Here’s everything you need to know about the election process, what you can expect to see in the coming months, and what role you can play in it as a voting member of the public.

Who decides when to call general elections?

The last General Elections were held on February 8, 2020 and the next elections should take place within the next five years, in this case, before March 2025.

To call a general election, the Taoiseach must go to Áras an Uachtaráin and ask the President to dissolve the current Dáil.

The President will then dissolve the Dáil at the request of the Taoiseach. Although the President reserves the right to refuse to dissolve the Dáil, no president has ever formally done so.

When does a general election take place?

The General Election must take place within thirty days of the formal dissolution of the President of the current Dáil. This action is followed by the issuing of a warrant by the Secretary of the Dáil to the district officer in each of the forty-three constituencies, instructing them to hold an election for the allocated number of TDs in each constituency.

Voting day is defined the Minister of Housing, Planning and Local Government.

It is important to note that the election date must occur between the 17th and 25th day after the issuance of the writ by the Clerk of the Dáil. This timeline excludes Good Friday, Sundays and holidays.

When does the campaign start and what will it be like?

As soon as the date is officially defined, candidates will be able to start campaigning and request your vote. Voter canvassing includes posters, television debates, sending election leaflets and door-to-door calls from candidates and their teams requesting voting preferences.

All parties and candidates must comply with strict rules on how they campaign. Candidates and parties must also comply with laws governing how much money can be spent on their campaigns.

Candidates’ legal spending limit depends on the number of seats up for grabs in their constituency.

The maximum a candidate can spend in Dáil elections is:

– €45,200 per candidate in a five-seat constituency

– €37,650 per candidate in a four-seat constituency

– €30,150 per candidate in a three-seat constituency

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If a candidate receives at least a quarter of the constituency’s vote share, they can claim up to 8,700 euros in election expenses.

Candidates can raise posters thirty days before the voting date, or from the date on the ministerial voting agenda, whichever is the shorter period.

On voting day, you cannot display posters or campaign for a candidate or party within 50 meters from a polling station.

Failure to remove election posters within seven days of the voting date is a crime.

How to vote in the general election

Typically speaking, polling stations are open from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm on election day (voting day) to allow everyone the opportunity to vote.

Circumstances may arise where it is not possible for someone to vote in person, and in those cases, in limited circumstances, you may be eligible to vote by mail.

To do this, you must be registered on the postal voter list or special voter list before the election.

If you cannot show up on Election Day and do not qualify as a special or mail-in voter, you will not be able to vote.

What vacancies are available for candidates to fill?

In addition to Ceann Comhairle, who is automatically re-elected as a member of the next Dáil, the next general election will be contested in forty-three constituencies.

This election follows a series of increases in constituencies and available seats, with an increase of four constituencies since the last election.

A further increase of fourteen MPs to the Dáil brings the number of seats available at this General Election to 174, meaning that eighty-eight TDs will be needed to form a majority government instead of eighty.

The increase in the number of constituencies comes from the implementation of the Electoral Commission’s review recommendations, as many existing constituencies have seen boundary changes.

These changes could have an impact on the dynamics of the General Elections at local level.

The aftermath of voting day

The day after voting day, the counting of votes begins, which begins at 9:00 am and can often take several days, depending on the number of candidates in each constituency.

The final seats filled in the later stages of the count are made up of the remaining transferable votes and also a recount.

Normally speaking, the new Dáil meets thirty days after voting day.

However, a precedent was set by the last government, which took four months to form after the last day of elections, making it difficult to predict how long the new government will take to form after the next elections.