Election petition dismissed as refusal of recount and alleged lack of transparency in vote counting found lawful

The High Court dismissed an election petition brought by a candidate who narrowly lost a seat in a Seanad Éireann panel election. The candidate challenged the returning officer's refusal to conduct a full recount and claimed that the counting process lacked sufficient transparency. The court found that the applicable legal framework grants only a limited discretion for recounts in Seanad elections, requiring the returning officer to be dissatisfied with the accuracy of the count before ordering a recount. The judge held that the refusal of a recount and the conduct of the count did not amount to mistakes or irregularities likely to have affected the election result. There was no evidence of errors or lack of transparency sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome, particularly as no specific concerns were raised at the time of the count. Consequently, the court rejected both grounds and dismissed the petition.