Fourth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1968

The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1968 was a bill (no. 6 of 1968) to amend the Constitution of Ireland to alter the electoral system for elections to Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas, from proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV) to first-past-the-post (FPTP). It was one of two referendums on the elections held on 16 October 1968, the other being a proposal to allow a greater variance in representation. Both bills were rejected.

Fourth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1968

16 October 1968 (1968-10-16)
To alter the Dáil electoral system from single transferable vote to first-past-the-post
Results
Choice Votes % Yes 423,496 39.16% No 657,898 60.84% Valid votes 1,081,394 95.73% Invalid or blank votes 48,212 4.27% Total votes 1,129,606 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 1,717,389 65.77%

Background

Elections to Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives in the Oireachtas, are governed by Article 16 of the Constitution.

In 1959, the Fianna Fáil government of Éamon de Valera put the Third Amendment of the Constitution Bill to a referendum, which proposed to replace the electoral system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV) with first-past-the-post (FPTP). The referendum was defeated by 51.8% to 48.8%, on the same day on which de Valera had won the presidential election.

In 1968, the Fianna Fáil government of Jack Lynch proposed two constitutional amendments on the electoral system for election to Dáil Éireann: the Third Amendment of the Constitution Bill, which would have allowed for greater divergence in the ratio of population to constituencies, and the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, a second proposal to introduce FPTP voting in single-member constituencies.

Oireachtas debate

The bill to amend the constitution was proposed in the Dáil by Taoiseach Jack Lynch on 21 February 1968. It was opposed by Fine Gael and the Labour Party. On 3 July, it passed final stages in the Dáil by 66 to 56. On 30 July 1968, it passed final stages in the Seanad by 25 to 18.

Voter information

The subject matter of the referendum was described in the voter information as:

The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1968, proposes –

1. To substitute for the present system of voting at Dáil elections the "straight vote" system in single-member constituencies;
2. To establish a Commission to determine constituencies, subject to the right of the Dáil to amend the constituencies as so determined; and
3. To provide that whenever the Dáil is dissolved the outgoing Ceann Comhairle may be returned, without a contest, as a second deputy for a constituency chosen by him which consists of, or includes a part of, the constituency he represented before the dissolution.

Result

The Fourth Amendment bill was rejected by 60.8% against to 39.2% in favour; the Third Amendment, on the population ratio in constituencies, was rejected by a similar margin.

Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland Bill 1968

Choice	Votes	%
No	657,898	60.84
Yes	423,496	39.16
Valid votes	1,081,394	95.73
Invalid or blank votes	48,212	4.27
Total votes	1,129,606	100.00
Registered voters/turnout	1,717,389	65.77

Results by constituency

Constituency	Electorate	Turnout (%)	Votes		Proportion of votes
			Yes	No	Yes	No
Carlow–Kilkenny	58,039	71.4%	15,253	23,174	39.7%	60.3%
Cavan	33,996	70.7%	9,710	13,318	42.2%	57.8%
Clare	48,008	62.6%	14,193	14,131	50.1%	49.9%
Cork Borough	59,607	66.3%	14,784	23,448	38.7%	61.3%
Cork Mid	51,423	72.2%	14,337	21,440	40.1%	59.9%
Cork North-East	59,515	70.9%	16,784	23,659	41.5%	58.5%
Cork South-West	34,625	69.9%	8,691	14,281	37.8%	62.2%
Donegal North-East	34,698	66.7%	11,414	10,701	51.6%	48.4%
Donegal South-West	35,596	62.2%	10,692	10,397	50.7%	49.3%
Dublin County	77,837	63.3%	15,820	31,999	33.1%	66.9%
Dublin North-Central	37,771	57.9%	5,877	15,187	27.9%	72.1%
Dublin North-East	80,453	65.9%	16,147	36,010	31.0%	69.0%
Dublin North-West	41,984	61.1%	7,467	17,633	29.7%	70.3%
Dublin South-Central	52,371	57.6%	8,449	20,790	28.9%	71.1%
Dublin South-East	41,190	63.9%	7,726	18,044	30.0%	70.0%
Dublin South-West	57,590	59.6%	9,667	23,780	28.9%	71.1%
Dún Laoghaire and Rathdown	62,723	63.4%	11,875	27,135	30.4%	69.6%
Galway East	53,105	62.6%	14,713	16,708	46.8%	53.2%
Galway West	33,722	52.7%	8,606	8,574	50.1%	49.9%
Kerry North	34,785	64.1%	9,246	11,887	43.8%	56.2%
Kerry South	35,323	66.1%	10,698	11,605	48.0%	52.0%
Kildare	46,099	66.9%	11,560	17,883	39.3%	60.7%
Laois–Offaly	55,879	66.9%	14,128	21,433	39.7%	60.3%
Limerick East	46,883	67.3%	11,190	18,793	37.3%	62.7%
Limerick West	33,546	72.4%	11,272	11,908	48.6%	51.4%
Longford–Westmeath	43,795	67.8%	10,674	17,414	38.0%	62.0%
Louth	37,781	66.9%	9,785	14,453	40.4%	59.6%
Mayo North	30,802	53.8%	7,167	8,556	45.6%	54.4%
Mayo South	41,324	62.2%	10,513	14,025	42.8%	57.2%
Meath	36,192	68.5%	9,500	14,084	40.3%	59.7%
Monaghan	32,580	69.8%	8,645	12,925	40.1%	59.9%
Roscommon	42,971	69.2%	11,635	16,299	41.7%	58.3%
Sligo–Leitrim	42,362	65.8%	11,034	15,097	42.2%	57.8%
Tipperary North	34,076	71.0%	9,600	13,217	42.1%	57.9%
Tipperary South	46,045	74.0%	14,749	17,712	45.4%	54.6%
Waterford	37,519	69.8%	10,353	14,555	41.6%	58.4%
Wexford	48,050	69.6%	11,411	20,588	35.7%	64.3%
Wicklow	37,124	65.3%	8,131	15,055	35.1%	64.9%
Total	1,717,389	65.8%	423,496	657,898	39.2%	60.8%

References

Sources

• "Fourth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1968 (Bill 6 of 1968)". Oireachtas. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  • Includes text of bill and Oireachtas debates