Sawt Falasteen - Ireland set to elect left-winger president despite discontent at ballot choices

Early tallies showed Connolly, an independent, was on course for a landslide victory over the centrist Fine Gael party's Heather Humphreys, but with a record number of spoiled ballots and low turnout.

Connolly, a lawyer and a critic of both the United States and European Union, boosted her profile with younger voters during the campaign by appearing on popular podcasts and going viral with a video showing off her football skills.

The official result was expected late Saturday, with many polling stations reporting turnout below 40 percent and potentially more than one in eight voters having spoiled their ballots, according to The Irish Times newspaper.

Conservative figures had urged voters to mar their voting paper in protest at the lack of right-wing options and to signal growing discontent over issues including immigration and crime.

Like neighbouring Britain, Ireland has seen an increasingly divisive debate over an influx of asylum seekers in recent years, sparking sometimes violent protests, including outside facilities used to house them.

More than 3.6 million people were eligible to vote to choose the successor to 84-year-old Michael Higgins, who since 2011 has held the largely ceremonial head of state post which offers very limited political power.

A slew of celebrities also considered running -- including mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor, singer Bob Geldof and dancer Michael Flatley -- but their campaigns failed to materialise.

A conservative Catholic candidate who appeared able to muster double digit support in polling almost made the ballot but fell short of gaining enough parliamentary backing.

That sparked anger about the nomination rules and prompted early calls to "spoil your vote".

- 'Dissatisfaction' -

Connolly and Humphreys ended up as the only effective choices after another candidate representing the centrist Fianna Fail -- the larger party in Ireland's governing coalition with Fine Gael -- quit the race.

He remained on ballot papers because he only announced his withdrawal earlier this month.

A recent poll suggested 49 percent of voters did not feel represented by the two candidates on offer.

Connolly, 68, a lawmaker since 2016 and supported by left-wing parties including Sinn Fein, had surged ahead in opinion polls in recent weeks.

Some predict her strong views on things like Irish military non-alignment and limited defence spending could cause friction with the government.

She has voiced unease at Europe's increased military spending following Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Political science professor Eoin O'Malley, of Dublin City University, said Connolly was "the clear winner" after the contest "became a referendum on the government".

"The big story, and bad news for all the parties, is the number of people who will spoil their votes, which might be 10 percent" he told AFP.

"This reflects a deep anger and dissatisfaction with all the parties, which refuse to discuss issues such as immigration."

M.AbuKhalil--SF-PST