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Exit polls suggest the Republic of Ireland might be about to scrap the age-old blasphemy law, which prohibits people in the highly-Catholic country to utter blasphemous words, as about 70 percent of voters rejected it in a referendum on Friday.
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The Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI exit poll predicted 69 percent voted to remove the blasphemy law from the constitution, with an estimated margin of error of +/-1.5 percent. Young voters were an important factor for change, but those of older ages voted half and half.
The majority of the people voted for change, across all regions of the country, and across all ages and among women and men. However, the Yes vote was lowest among the older voters. Other than voting for removing the reference to blasphemy from the Irish Constitution, voters were also asked to decide who would become the Irish President.
The exit poll also suggests that Michael D Higgins got 58 percent of the first preference votes and would be reelected. The commitment to hold a referendum on removing the blasphemy provision was part of the government plan, agreed in 2016.
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