Electoral Commission Confronts Challenges in Oversight Role

A deepfake video depicting a presidential candidate’s withdrawal from an Irish election has highlighted growing concerns about artificial intelligence’s potential to disrupt democratic processes, according to Ireland’s electoral watchdog.

The sophisticated fake showed RTÉ broadcaster Sharon Ní Bheoláin announcing that presidential candidate Catherine Connolly had withdrawn from the race, followed by a fabricated clip of Connolly herself confirming her exit. The video even featured a political correspondent claiming the election had been canceled and that another candidate would automatically win.

Art O’Leary, chief executive of Ireland’s electoral commission An Coimisiún Toghcháin, told the Irish Examiner that his team identified the deepfake late on the Tuesday before polling day and took immediate action.

“We do have what the social media companies call whitelist channels, which gives us priority access to report issues, and Meta, in this particular case, were very responsive,” O’Leary said. “We did that before midnight, and then when I got up at four in the morning, the account was suspended.”

Despite the quick removal, thousands of voters had already viewed the video. O’Leary compared combating such content to playing “whack a mole,” noting that social media companies might not always be as cooperative in future cases.

The deepfake incident represents just the beginning of what electoral officials worldwide fear will become a much larger problem. “The potential here is off the charts,” O’Leary warned. “I speak to my counterparts all the time, all over the world, and it’s the one thing that we come back to. At the top of every agenda is misinformation and disinformation, deep fakes and how we manage that.”

He emphasized that digital literacy will be crucial moving forward: “Ultimately, the long-term solution here is digital and media literacy. We need to educate people in relation to the material that they find online.”

The recent presidential election also saw other notable developments, including a significant “spoil the vote” campaign. More than 200,000 voters (nearly 13%) deliberately spoiled their ballots, while another 100,000 voted for Jim Gavin despite his earlier withdrawal from the race.

Much of the dissatisfaction stemmed from barrister Maria Steen’s inability to secure a place on the ballot. Steen, a member of the conservative Iona Institute who had previously campaigned against abortion rights and marriage equality, failed to gather enough support from members of the Oireachtas to qualify as a candidate.

O’Leary acknowledged voters’ right to spoil their ballots but noted the commission expects more information on voters’ motivations in a report due next year. He also criticized those who posted images of their spoiled ballots online, calling such actions “illegal” and contrary to ballot secrecy principles.

The electoral commission is also concerned about growing abuse directed at politicians, particularly women and those from minority groups. A 2024 Oireachtas task force concluded that “abuse in political life is prevalent, problematic and targeted disproportionately at women and minority groups,” with online abuse “intensifying and becoming normalised.”

In response to safety concerns, the Houses of the Oireachtas Service has announced plans to enhance security at Leinster House, with Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy calling for legislation to address the “alarming rise in serious threats” against elected representatives.

O’Leary noted that traditional election posters, despite environmental concerns, may provide safer visibility for candidates who face harassment during door-to-door campaigning. The commission will make recommendations to the Government next year regarding whether to retain this practice.

Another significant challenge facing Ireland’s electoral system is its fragmented voter register. Currently, there are 31 separate registers maintained by local authorities, containing numerous inaccuracies including deceased individuals, emigrants, and duplicate entries.

The Government has allocated €3 million in 2025 to support local authorities in creating a unified national register. Despite his usual skepticism about public sector IT projects, O’Leary expressed optimism about progress: “Astonishingly, this is an IT project in the public service which is going brilliantly well… There is a brilliant project going on at the moment to create a single database, and all of the local authorities are going to migrate to that single database by this time next year.”

Looking ahead to the 2026 elections, the commission plans to focus on engaging non-voters, particularly the significant portion of the population who feel disconnected from the electoral process.

“If you don’t vote, you allow somebody else to speak for you,” O’Leary emphasized. “We need to convert all these registrations into voters, and that’s our big challenge.”