They came in their droves. Motivated, not just to do their civic duty, but to make their voices heard that they were not satisfied with the ballot before them.
One could argue the spoiled voters were even more driven than the average voter who dutifully picked their first, second and third choices for president, or even just their number one.
It takes more thought, and for some, carefully considered découpage, to spoil a vote.
Some people stuck in a photo of who they wanted to vote for, others drew a certain blue Hermès Kelly bag on their ballot.
The dust has settled on the Presidential Election and Catherine Connolly will soon be sworn in as Ireland's tenth president.
Praise has been deservedly heaped on the president-elect for a barnstorming campaign, with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil left to do some serious soul-searching.
But the elephant in the room is the size of the spoiled vote.
Voters spoiled their ballot for various reasons, but according to one poll, the majority of them (50%) were disappointed with the calibre of candidates, or the lack of choice thereof.
Dr Kevin Cunningham, founder of Ireland Thinks, ran a poll, via text message, on election day, asking voters about how they voted and why.
2,656 voters were polled, of whom 357, or 13%, spoiled their vote.
The spoiled votes element provides some fascinating insights into the why of the spoiled votes, as Dr Cunningham points out: "These are people who are otherwise very engaged with the democratic process."
That is, they turned up to vote, they wanted to vote, but could not see someone who aligned enough with their values to vote for.
"Some felt they had no option, they had no choice on the ballot sheet."
Dr Cunningham said the people who spoiled their vote tended to be right-wing and there are more men than women across the ages and socioeconomic backgrounds who spoiled their votes.
Some spoiled voters also said they were protesting against what they saw as an undemocratic process in the selection of candidates, and others as a general anti-Government protest.
In Dublin Mid-West, more than 20% of people spoiled their votes.
Local Sinn Féin TD Mark Ward was involved in a cross-party canvass for the eventual winner of the Presidential Election and said he came across a number of people during the campaign who said they would spoil their vote.
"Some felt they had no option, they had no choice on the ballot sheet," he said, which he recognises as a valid reason.
Mr Ward said he neither agreed nor disagreed with spoiling a vote, but said it showed that people were dissatisfied either with the lack of choice in the Presidential Election, local issues or Government policy.
He said that the closer they got to polling day, issues in Citywest were raised more frequently as it is in the constituency.
A 26-year-old man was last month charged in connection with a sexual assault of a ten-year-old girl near the Citywest Hotel.
Mr Ward also said some people they canvassed were disappointed that Sinn Féin did not run their own candidate, while others said they would have liked to see Maria Steen’s name on the ballot paper.
Mr Ward said he explained to voters that Sinn Féin and other parties in Opposition worked together to keep Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil out of the Áras, and would continue to work to get them out of government.
He also said that he told voters that Ms Steen had left it too late to get her name on the ballot, and that he had never been contacted by her, or anyone on her team, to ask for his support.
Mr Ward said he was not disappointed by the size of the spoiled vote in Dublin Mid-West, because of the fact that people "went out and took the time to vote" which he said was a positive.
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In the wake of the election, An Coimisiún Toghcháin recognised the size of the spoiled vote, saying: "Our focus at An Coimisiún Toghcháin has been on getting voters registered and to the polls, and also supporting those who may otherwise have accidently spoiled their vote, by providing information, education and guidance on voting.
"We recognise however that the number of spoiled votes is significantly higher than normal and it is clear that some people chose to deliberately spoil their votes.
"There will clearly be a need for deeper and further reflection on the reasons for this."
As part of its remit, the commission is carrying out its National Election and Democracy Study (NEDS) and Post Electoral Event Review.
Dr Mary-Clare O’Sullivan is head of research with An Coimisiún Toghcháin.
She said the NEDS has been asking people whether they voted or not, for whom and if they spoiled their vote.
She expects that there will be a representative number of spoiled votes in those surveyed.
The NEDS surveyed 1,500 people through three phases beginning on 29 September, with the second poll in the last week of the campaign, and the last survey done on 25 October, after the vote.
Dr O’Sullivan said 1,200 people have answered all three surveys, and those who spoiled their votes are invited to say why, with an open text box.
The research is thorough and laborious, with detailed spreadsheets and code books published at the conclusion of the study, which is expected at the end of the year or shortly after.
The commission’s role is to observe, so Dr O’Sullivan did not want to comment on the number of spoiled votes, other than to say it was "certainly a high figure," which warranted deeper investigation.
"We need to reflect on the reasons, and some reasons will be within the control of the Electoral Commission, [while] some will be for the body politic," she said.
The Dublin South-West constituency had average turnout in this election, but a slightly higher proportion of spoiled votes, at 14.5%.
Ciarán Ahern, the Labour Party’s campaign coordinator for Ms Connolly, hails from that constituency, and said that people told him on doors that they did not feel represented on the ballot paper.
He said he did a lot of canvassing, mostly in the east of the constituency which includes some of the more salubrious areas like Knocklyon and Rathrarnham but also Firhouse which has a broader socioeconomic mix.
He said some people told him that there simply were not enough candidates and some of those people chose not to vote at all.
Mr Ahern said there seemed to be a higher proportion of spoiled votes in the west of the constituency, which is closer to Citywest.
He said, from what he saw in the count centre, there were more spoiled votes relating to Citywest.
Elsewhere, he saw people writing X’s across all three names, some joke names and quite a lot of "Maria Steens" being written down on the ballot paper.
Watch: Steen 'grateful' to those who wrote her name on ballot
He said some people felt that some prospective candidates were blocked out from the ballot.
"I don’t subscribe to that," he said.
Mr Ahern said the people who showed up to South Dublin County Council (SDCC) to lobby for support "weren’t particularly inspiring" and that is why it did not nominate anyone.
Gareth Sheridan,who was backed by two other councils, and Ms Steen did not appear before SDCC.
While Mr Ahern does not believe it should necessarily be easy to get on the ballot paper as the "presidency is the highest office in the land", he thinks local authorities could make it easier to present to them.
He suggested that councils could examine the logistics of allowing people to present to them and coordinate with each other so that hopeful candidates could maximise their chances.
He points out that ahead of this election, many councils were being lobbied at the same time, making it impossible for an individual to meet all local authorities.
Despite being taken aback by the spoiling of votes, Mr Ahern said it was really refreshing to be part of Ms Connolly’s campaign, which he described as genuinely collegiate, collaborative and positive.
That being said, the diverse range of reasons why people spoiled their votes in the hundred of thousands cannot be ignored.
