UNSUCCESSFUL GENERAL ELECTION candidate Michelle Keane, who claimed that there were “discrepancies” in the official number of people who voted for her, has failed in a court bid to have election documents provided to her.

Michelle Keane, of Talbot Bridge, Knocknagoshel, ran as an independent candidate in Kerry in November and claimed to have witnessed ballots being torn from boxes in front of her at a polling station.

She received over 1,500 first preference votes in the election, but was eliminated on the ninth count.

Keane applied to the High Court last week seeking an order to obtain the marked register of electors, a document which shows individuals who voted on election day, and for the destruction of other election documents to be stopped.

She alleged that, on the night of the election, she was in the Toureencahill polling station at around 8.45pm when she witnessed two election staff “tearing out ballot papers from the ballot box” and that she was the only other person in the room when this happened.

Keane also claimed that there were “discrepancies” in relation to the number of votes that she received in the election, and alleged that people who voted for her had contacted her and informed her that their votes were not reflected in the final count.

However, Judge Garrett Simons ruled today that under the Electoral Act, individuals must submit an application for leave to take such a case to the High Court within two weeks of the election result being declared.

The judge said that the result for Kerry was declared on 30 November 2024, but that Keane had not applied to take her case until 7 March, “that is, some two to three months after the time-limit had expired”.

He also said that Keane’s submissions showed nothing “which might justify an extension of time in this case”, and that the High Court was not empowered to extend the time-limit by law.

He pointed to Keane’s own submission that she had made a formal complaint about alleged fraud to Gardaí and to Kerry’s returning officer “immediately” on polling day, saying that she knew about the issue raised with the court within the two-week window.

“This is not a case where it is alleged that there had been concealed fraud which only came to the attention of a proposing petitioner, subsequent to the expiration of the fourteen day time-limit,” the judge said.

The judge also ruled against her effort to obtain documents relating to the election.

Keane had campaigned during the election on an anti-immigration platform, having gained an online following as a campaigner through videos and posts on social media in recent years.

She has previously campaigned against 5G masts in Kerry and has protested against the housing of asylum seekers in other parts of the country.

After the election, she was jailed for breaking a court order not to post content on social media about a local garda – an incident which led to misinformation that her imprisonment was due to her uncovering of election fraud.

Keane responded to today’s judgment in a social media video saying that she would challenge the ruling.

Contains reporting from Paul Neilan.