A BALLOT PAPER smeared with suspected excrement has been discovered in a Cork ballot box.

Sinead McNamara, returning officer for Cork, confirmed that the discovery was made at the County Cork count centre in Mallow earlier today. 

It is understood that the ballot was found in a box from Cork North West – it had a large blotch of what appeared to be defecation material.

“SHIT REAL SHIT” was written on the ballot paper in pen. 

The ballot has been retained and placed in a biohazard bag. It’s not known if it’s animal or human waste, or some other substance concocted by the voter. 

The discovery was made this morning as count staff emptied boxes in two locations in the county. City ballots are being counted in Nemo Rangers GAA Club near Turner’s Cross and Mallow is handling the county boxes. 

There was an average of about 8% spoiled votes according to completed tallies. 

The Journal saw several with abusive messages written on them, anti-migrant comments, anti-Government comments and even the names of candidates who they would have preferred. 

These included Cork native MEP Billy Kelleher, who lost out to Jim Gavin in the competition to be the Fianna Fáil candidate. Maria Steen’s name was also written on some ballots.

However the spoiling of votes in Cork appears to be relatively low compared to other parts of the country with the county swinging to an approximate 68% Catherine Connolly victory.