Harris defends State’s electoral system as ‘valued and transparent’

Taoiseach Simon Harris has defended Ireland’s electoral system as transparent and valued, as marathon counting in the local and European elections finally came to a close.

It took six days of counting to fill all 14 seats across three European constituencies.

Our proportional representation system – the single transferable vote – means ballots are counted multiple times by hand as electronic voting or counting systems are not used.

Speaking from Castlebar, Co Mayo overnight, the Fine Gael leader said the PRSTV system does take time, but added the State “values” the transparency it offers.

“I’m a very proud member of the European Union, a very proud citizen of Europe. I love the European Union, but we won’t be told by anyone else how to do our elections,” he said.

“Here in this country, we value our electoral system, PRSTV, and we value the peann luaidhe (pencil) and the ballot paper.

“And you know what, it does take a little bit longer.

“I’m sure…