The Returning Officer for Galway West has apologised to a Portuguese man who was wrongly denied a vote in the 2024 Local Elections due to a “very unfortunate error” at a city polling station.

Carlos Manuel Garcia da Silva was denied a vote at Ballybane polling station on June 7, 2024, after he was erroneously told by staff that he was only eligible to vote in the European Election, and not the Local Election.

Mr da Silva had lived in Ireland for 30 years and was eligible to vote in both the European and Local Elections.

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) upheld a complaint of discrimination on grounds of nationality.

“If he had been an Irish national, the complainant would have been issued with a ballot paper to vote in the Local elections. I have reached the conclusion that, when he was prevented from voting, the complainant was discriminated against on the ground of his nationality.

“The explanation provided by the respondent, that the staff in the polling station made a mistake, is not sufficient to show that he was not treated equally with an Irish person and that discrimination did not occur,” WRC adjudicator Catherine Byrne said in a recently published judgement.

The WRC heard the complainant was legally entitled to vote in the Local Elections and his allegation of discrimination arose from “the failure of the poll clerk and the presiding officer to be aware of that fact and to issue him with a ballot paper”.

The Returning Officer, represented by David Higgins of Berwick Solicitors, accepted the complainant’s evidence but denied discrimination.

Mr Higgins said the poll clerk saw ‘E’ beside the complainant’s name and assumed that he was confined to voting in the European elections.

This mistake was not corrected by the more senior presiding officer.

Mr Higgins said the polling card does not identify the nationality of voters and the poll clerk was unaware of his nationality.

He said the poll clerk and the presiding officer “made a very unfortunate error” and on behalf of the Returning Officer he apologised to the complainant who wasn’t allowed to vote.

This was the first time in the Returning Officer’s 19-year tenure that a mistake like this had occurred, he said.

Mr da Silva said he felt embarrassed, as if he had asked for something to which he wasn’t entitled, or as if he had done something reprehensible or incorrect when he was refused a ballot.

“As a fundamental right of people in democracies, voting is a serious matter and the public must rely on the expertise of the staff who manage the voting process to make correct and lawful decisions. A mistake on the day of voting has an effect on the democratic process and, in the complainant’s case, the mistake denied him the right to exercise his franchise.

“What occurred may seem like a minor issue, but, regardless of whether there was an intention to treat the complainant less fairly than an Irish person, the effect of the mistake is that he was so treated. Because of the seriousness of the error, and, as it wasn’t corrected by the polling staff, I am satisfied that the facts are sufficient to raise an inference of discrimination,” WRC adjudication officer Catherine Byrne ruled.

No compensation was awarded but the respondent was instructed to erect signage at polling stations to inform voters about their rights.

Mr da Silva’s wife had a similar experience at the same polling station, which was also the subject of a discrimination complaint.

The WRC heard that Maria Manuela de Almeida Silva challenged the erroneous assumption of the poll clerk that she was not entitled to vote in Local Elections. When she did that, the mistake was corrected by the presiding officer, and she voted in both the European and Local Elections.

Because the error was corrected in the wife’s case, the WRC said she “was not treated less favourably compared to an Irish citizen”.