DUBLIN – The polls have closed in the Republic of Ireland, where voters have been taking part in a referendum on whether to legalize same-sex marriage.
More than 3.2m people were asked whether they wanted to amend the country’s constitution to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry. Polling stations closed at 22:00 BST and counting started on Saturday morning.
According to BBC, an “unusually high” turnout on Friday was observed. Irish state broadcaster said the turnout in most areas was well ahead of what it had been in recent referendums.
Dublin, Limerick and Waterford passed the 60% electorate turnout mark, while in Cork, Carlow, Kilkenny, Donegal, Tipperary, Kerry and Galway it was above 50%.
Prior to Friday, votes had already been cast in some islands as well as hospitals, hospices and nursing homes. Irish citizens who are registered are allowed to vote, but there is no postal voting. Many people returned to Ireland to cast their votes.
They were asked whether they agree with the statement: “Marriage may be contracted in accordance with law by two persons without distinction as to their sex”. The referendum was being held 22 years after homosexual acts were decriminalized in Ireland.
But there are some important differences between civil partnership and marriage, the critical one being that marriage is protected in the constitution while civil partnership is not a constitutional convention established by the Irish government in 2013 considered the specifics of a proposal on extending marriage rights, as well as discussing other changes to the constitution.
A separate referendum, on whether the eligibility age of presidential candidates should be lowered from 35 to 21, is being held at the same time, along with a parliamentary by-election in the Carlow-Kilkenny constituency. Same-sex marriage is currently legal in 19 countries worldwide.
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