Voters in Dublin and Galway will go to the polls in two byelections on Friday after intense canvassing in the closing days of the campaign and efforts by candidates to ensure their supporters turn up to vote.Turnout is typically lower in byelections than in general elections.A high first-preference vote in Dublin Central and Galway West will be crucial if candidates are to survive long enough to reach the later stages of the counts to benefit from the transfers they will need to win. Polls open at 7am and close at 10pm; vote counting will begin on Saturday morning.Former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams joined his successor Mary Lou McDonald to campaign for the party’s Dublin Central candidate Cllr Janice Boylan in the north inner city on Wednesday. McDonald is under pressure to deliver a second Dáil seat in the constituency, where she is the sitting TD.While last week’s Irish Times/TG4 Ipsos B&A poll has Boylan leading the field in the left-leaning constituency, she was not far ahead of Daniel Ennis of the Social Democrats.Ennis took to social media on Thursday to say his party had more than 100 people delivering his leaflets as he urged people to “make your voice heard”. The vacancy in Dublin Central arose after Fine Gael’s Paschal Donohoe resigned as a TD to take a post at the World Bank in Washington. Fourteen candidates are vying to replace him in the Dáil.Fine Gael Lord Mayor of Dublin Ray McAdam is hoping to retain the seat for his party.[ Are you using AI to inform yourself on the byelection? Researchers warn of chatbot errorsOpens in new window ]On Thursday his team was asking voters to “keep that voice in Government” in a constituency where the three sitting TDs are all members of the Opposition.The most high-profile independent is veteran criminal Gerry “The Monk” Hutch, who narrowly missed out on a Dáil seat in the 2024 general election and was in third place in last week’s opinion poll.Gardaí in court have described Hutch as the figurehead of the Hutch crime gang involved in the Kinahan-Hutch feud. On Thursday Hutch posted an online video advising people to bring polling cards or photo ID with them when they vote.There are 17 candidates in Galway West.The two perceived frontrunners – Senator and former TD Seán Kyne of Fine Gael, and Independent Ireland councillor Noel Thomas campaigned on opposite ends of the constituency – the Wild Atlantic Way and Oranmore respectively. Fine Gael winning the seat would buck the trend of Government parties faring poorly in byelections. Kyne faces a strong challenge from Thomas, who may benefit from anti-establishment sentiment given his involvement in the recent fuel protests.The vacant Dáil seat in Galway West came about due to the election of former independent TD Catherine Connolly as President.It is more than two weeks since The Irish Times/TG4 Ipsos B&A poll that had Kyne in the lead, followed by Thomas, with Labour Cllr Helen Ogbu leading the pack of left-wing candidates ahead of Míde Nic Fhionnlaoich of the Social Democrats and Sinn Féin’s Mark Lohan.On the evidence of the recent opinion polls, Fianna Fáil’s Cllr Cillian Keane appears to be faring better than his party colleague Cllr John Stephens in Dublin Central, but both face an uphill battle. Independents in the race in Galway West include Mayor of Galway Mike Cubbard.The number of registered voters has declined in both constituencies since the 2024 general election amid efforts by local authorities to clean up the register.The electorate in Dublin Central stands at 57,619 – down by 5,571 since the general election, notwithstanding more than 850 new voters being added in the weeks leading up to the May 5th deadline to register.There are a total of 103,479 registered voters in Galway West, down 234 since the 2024 general election despite around 450 new voters registering in recent weeks. Art O’Leary, the chief executive of An Coimisiún Toghcháin, the Electoral Commission, said the reason for the decline in electorate figures is related to the “really positive work” being done by local authorities “to clean up the register by removing duplicate entries, people who have moved away, or deceased”.Who are the candidates in Dublin Central?Who are the candidates in Galway West?