ieExplains: I'm voting today. How do I fill out a ballot?
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On Friday, three separate elections take place, with more than 3m people having the right to vote in European Parliament and local elections, and those registered to vote in Limerick city and county deciding on a directly-elected mayor.
If it's your first time, or you need a refresher, here's what you need to do on Friday in order to make your voice heard.
The first thing you need to do is check that you are registered to vote. Registration deadlines have already passed, so if you are not registered, you will not be able to vote.
For any election in Ireland you must be 18 or over, be resident in Ireland, and be registered. You do not have to be an Irish citizen to vote in a local election, but you have to be a citizen of a European state to vote in the European elections.
If you are an EU citizen who was not registered to vote in a previous European election in Ireland, you must have filled out a statutory declaration form that avoids duplicate voting across countries.
To vote in the Limerick mayoral election you must be registered to vote within the Limerick city and county electoral areas.
To check your status, visit www.checktheregister.ie
In advance of Friday you should have received a polling card with information about your local polling station. When you arrive at the polling station you'll be asked your name and address and you may be asked for identification. Once the staff on site are happy, your ballot papers will be stamped and handed to you. If your papers are not stamped they will not be counted. Feel free to ask if the presiding officer forgets.
You then take your ballot papers to the voting booth, which is generally just a four-sided table with privacy screens.
When you are given your ballot the white paper will be for the European elections and the blue paper for your local authority. If you are in Limerick the mayoral election ballot will be pink.
Ireland uses the proportional representation single transferable vote (PR-STV) system which means you can vote for as many or as few candidates as you like, in order of preference.
Pencils will be provided but you can bring your own pen if you like.
Ballot papers are listed in alphabetical order, with party logos and a picture of the candidate. You mark a one in the box beside the person you would most like to see elected and carry on down in numerical order if you like.
Continuing your preference is effectively telling those who will count your votes that if your preferred candidate is excluded or already elected that you would like your vote transferred to the next candidate. Marking a three or a four or so on would continue this instruction.
You should not make any other mark on the ballot paper or it may be considered spoiled, and not counted.
You then take your ballots to the padlocked box beside the table where you entered and drop them off.
Counting will begin in the local elections on Saturday and the European elections on Sunday. It is expected that Limerick's count will begin on Monday. Counting in the European constituencies is expected to go on for days, given the size of the constituencies and number of candidates. The 's political team will be in all three count centres, so you won't miss a thing.
Follow the results live across the weekend at the Irish Examiner's election results hub.