Irish Elections - Referendum, Presidential, and General (polling or byelections)

[Kevinstat]

How will the vote counting process go in terms of multiple eliminations happening at the same time?  Is there a deposit threshold in this election and if so what is it and does that play a role in the elimination rules?  Is there a clear standard?  I seem to recall there being some inconsistency from the Dail by-elections in 2009 and asking why certain multiple eliminations weren't done.

[Kevinstat]

Nulty wins Dublin West for Labour

Nulty	8,665	8,885	10,186	13,027	17,636
McGuinness	7,742	7,935	8,720	9,873	11,590
Coppinger	7,542	7,834	9,368	9,873
Loftus	5,263	5,410	5,942
Donnelly	3,173	3,309
O'Gorman	1,787	1,925
Caesar Hunt	775
Kidd	311
Bermingham	185
Doris	95
Tallon	73
Cooney	51
Ó Ceallaigh	40

I'm surprised Donnelly was eliminated at the same time as O'Gorman when O'Gorman's vote could have theoretically pushed Donnelly over the threshold to recieve some reimbursement for his expenses.  Not that 60% of the Green Party (second count) vote would have gone to a Shinner (as would have been necessary for Donnelly to cross the expenses threshold) with Labour, a Socialist and Fianna Fail still in play (I doubt FG would have gotten many) but still.  Or is the threshold in that election not 1/4 of the quota (just over 12.5% of the vote in the single-winner case)?

How was the tie in the second-to-last count broken in favor of FF?  Will there be another recount?

[Kevinstat]

Who's going to win then?

Higgins is the presumptive favourite.

I suspect Davis would have the best shot at beating him

What was the whole deal with Davis tanking anyway?  Scandal, being upstaged by Gallagher, or a combination?

[Kevinstat]

Count 2

Higgins	701,101	(39.6%)	+29,379	730,480	(41.2%)
Gallagher	504,964	(28.5%)	+24,437	529,401	(29.9%)
McGuinness	243,030	(13.7%)	+9,581	252,611	(14.3%)
Mitchell	113,321	(6.4%)	+14,036	127,357	(7.2%)
Norris	109,469	(6.2%)	+7,057	116,526	(6.6%)
Scallon	51,220	(2.9%)	-51,220
Davis	48,567	(2.7%)	-48,567
Non-transferable	0	(0.0%)	+15,387	15,387	(0.9%)

Norris eliminated

It's mathematically impossible for anyone other than Higgins or Gallagher to win now.  Will Mitchell and McGuinness both be officially excluded before Count 4?

[Kevinstat]

Are constituency results (or perhaps county or county equivilent results) available for earlier Presidential elections, and how far back if so?  I'd love to see such maps for 1966 or 1973.