This means the voter marks his second preference on the ballot paper; and, if his first choice candidate does not finish in the first two, his vote is transferred to one of those who is still in with a chance. (BNCI)
It is well established that there are voters whose preferences are influenced by the alphabetical sequence in which candidates' surnames appear on the ballot paper. (BNCI)
Overall, little more than half of them were serious candidates put up by Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Labour and the Progressive Democrats, and on the ballot paper they were not listed for convenience of identification in party groups; the other candidates were outsiders. (BNCI)