#Elections2019: Wicklow recount suspended until tomorrow
The recount in the election for Wicklow County Council was suspended at 9.15pm tonight with just over a quarter of the ballot papers left to be checked.
Counting begins again at 10am on Tuesday but it is by no means clear that the final seat on the council will be declared by the end of the day.
Two candidates, Anne Ferris of Labour and Independent Malachai Duddy, requested the recount after being tied on 1006 votes each following the ninth count in the Bray East local electoral area on Sunday night.
Earlier, sitting Green Party councillor Steven Matthews topped the poll in the four-seater ward while Sinn Féin newcomer Grace McManus was elected on the seventh count and new Fine Gael candidate Aoife Flynn Kennedy on the ninth.
Around 1,700 of the 6,300 ballot papers remain to be scrutinised but so far no significant discrepancies have been detected.
If the tie remains after the recount, the rules state that the candidate with the largest first preference should be declared the winner in which case Anne Ferris, with 539 number ones, would take the seat ahead of Malachai Duddy who has 517.
All 28 other seats on the council were filled by Sunday evening with the breakdown of the 31 decided seats as follows: Fine Gael 9, Fianna Fáil 7, Green Party 2, Sinn Féin 2, Social Democrats 1, Labour 1 and Independents 9.
