The Irish Times on the Web will hold a "virtual presidential election" on Tuesday, October 28th. The vote will be open to Irish citizens living abroad who are not entitled to participate in the election proper. Advanced technology will permit detection of "bogus" votes being sent to Irish Times website computers from within Ireland.
Polling will be between 9 a.m. and midnight on Tuesday (Irish time). The Irish Times on the Web is accessed 17 million times each month. Of these "hits", 67 per cent are from North America, 6 per cent from the United Kingdom, 6 per cent from the rest of Europe, 4 per cent from Australia and New Zealand, 11 per cent from Ireland and 6 per cent from the rest of the world.
Voters will be asked to vote for candidates in order of their choice just as in the election proper. The counting of votes and the apportioning of transfers will, however, be done electronically.