| Short Title: | Electoral Act 1923 |
| Legislature: | Oireachtas |
| Long Title: | AN ACT TO REGULATE THE DÁIL AND SEANAD FRANCHISES IN SAORSTÁT EIREANN; TO AMEND AND CONSOLIDATE THE LAW RELATING TO THE REGISTRATION OF ELECTORS AND THE CONDUCT OF ELECTIONS TO DÁIL EIREANN; AND TO REGULATE THE CONDUCT OF ELECTIONS TO SEANAD EIREANN AND OF A REFERENDUM AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES CONNECTED THEREWITH. |
| Citation: | No. 12 of 123 |
| Territorial Extent: | Irish Free State (later Ireland) |
| Date Assented: | 17 April 1923 |
| Date Commenced: | 17 April 1923 & 9 August 1923 |
| Bill Citation: | Bill No. 1 of 1923 |
| Bill Date: | 18 December 1922 |
| Introduced By: | Minister for Local Government (Ernest Blythe) |
| Status: | Repealed |
| Amended By: | Electoral (Revision of Constituencies) Act 1935 |
| Repealed By: | Electoral Act 1992 |
The Electoral Act 1923 was a law in Ireland which established the electoral law of the Irish Free State and provided for parliamentary constituencies in Dáil Éireann.[1]
Article 14 of the Constitution of the Irish Free State adopted on 6 December 1922 provided equal suffrage to men and women over the age of twenty-one.[2] This was provided in the Electoral Act 1923. Equal suffrage on the basis of sex would not become law in the United Kingdom until 1928. It also abolished plural voting: electors could be registered in only one constituency: the constituency in which he or she was ordinarily resident; the constituency in which he or she occupied business premises; or one of two university constituencies.[3]
It was substantially replaced as the principal electoral legislation by the Electoral Act 1963.[4] Its remaining provisions were repealed by a further revision and consolidation of electoral law in the Electoral Act 1992.[5]
This Act replaced the constituencies defined in the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which had been in use at the 1921 election and the 1922 election. It also increased the number of seats in the Dáil by 25 from 128 to 153. These constituencies were first used at the 1923 election held on 27 August for the 4th Dáil.
The constituencies in the 1923 Act were in turn replaced by the Electoral (Revision of Constituencies) Act 1935, which came into effect on the dissolution of the 8th Dáil, and were first in use at the 1937 general election held on 14 June for the 9th Dáil.[6] The two university constituencies were abolished at the same election by separate legislation.[7] [8]
| Name[9] | Seats | Contents or boundaries | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Borough constituencies | |||
| Cork Borough | 5 | County borough of Cork and the county electoral area of Ballincollig | |
| Dublin North | 8 | Borough electoral areas of Dublin No. 1, No. 2, No. 4, No. 6 and No. 8 in the county borough of Dublin | |
| Dublin South | 7 | Borough electoral areas of Dublin No. 3, No. 5, No. 7, No. 9 and No. 10 in the county borough of Dublin | |
| County constituencies | |||
| Carlow–Kilkenny | 5 | Administrative counties of Carlow and Kilkenny | |
| Cavan | 4 | Administrative county of Cavan | |
| Clare | 5 | Administrative county of Clare | |
| East Cork | 5 | County electoral areas of Mallow and Cobh in the administrative county of Cork | |
| North Cork | 3 | County electoral areas of Kanturk and Macroom in the administrative county of Cork | |
| West Cork | 5 | County electoral areas of Bandon, Bantry and Dunmanway in the administrative county of Cork | |
| Donegal | 8 | Administrative county of Donegal | |
| Dublin County | 8 | Administrative county of Dublin | |
| Galway | 9 | Administrative county of Galway | |
| Kerry | 7 | Administrative county of Kerry | |
| Kildare | 3 | Administrative county of Kildare | |
| Leitrim–Sligo | 7 | Administrative counties of Leitrim and Sligo | |
| Leix–Offaly | 5 | Administrative counties of Leix and Offaly | |
| Limerick | 7 | Administrative county of Limerick and the county borough of Limerick | |
| Longford–Westmeath | 5 | Administrative counties of Longford and Westmeath | |
| Louth | 3 | Administrative county of Louth | |
| North Mayo | 4 | County electoral areas of Ballina, Killala and Swinford in the administrative county of Mayo | |
| South Mayo | 5 | County electoral areas of Castlebar, Claremorris and Westport in the administrative county of Mayo | |
| Meath | 3 | Administrative county of Meath | |
| Monaghan | 3 | Administrative county of Monaghan | |
| Roscommon | 4 | Administrative county of Roscommon | |
| Tipperary | 7 | Administrative counties of Tipperary North Riding and Tipperary South Riding | |
| Waterford | 4 | Administrative county of Waterford and the county borough of Waterford | |
| Wexford | 5 | Administrative county of Wexford | |
| Wicklow | 3 | Administrative county of Wicklow | |
| University constituencies | |||
| Dublin University | 3 | Degree holders and scholars | |
| National University | 3 | Degree holders | |