FEDERAL ELECTION

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 66, Issue 303, 4 October 1946, Page 3

FEDERAL ELECTION

SLOW COUNTING OF VOTES TENSION INCREASING I (N.Z. Press Association— Copyright.) SYDNEY, October 3. The tension which characterised the opening of the counting in the Federal Election last Saturday night has increased rather than slackened as the long and tedious business of counting the ■, .votes continues.

To a New Zealander it must seem incomprehensible that so long after polling day so many seats should'be still in doubt. Though the poll clerks have been hard at work since 8 p.m. on Saturday, the figures are mounting painfully slowly. Only 3,955,183 of a total of nearly 4,500,000 primary votes have been counted so far. Even when the primary count is completed, probably during the week-end, the fate of several seats will not be decided. In the Australian system of voting an elector numbers the candidates according to his preference. Thus in an electorate where there are five candidates a valid ballot paper will he numbered from one to five. Where the conclusion of the primary count shows that no candidate lias an absolute majority, Candidates who obviously are out of the running are eliminated and their second preferences are distributed among the leaders. This is continued through other preferences, if necessary, until an absolute majority is obtained. .

The position is complicated because in many electorates Liberal and Country Party candidates are both contesting against Labour. Thus in Riverina, where Mr J. I. Langry (Labour) lias 18,212 votes, Mr Robertson (Country Party) has 15,243, Mr Lethbridge (Liberal)’ 6394, Mr Gosling (Lang Labour) 2042 and Mr Pow (Independent) 237, a victory for Robertson is regarded as certain.' This is because the Liberal second preferences will largely go to the Country Party man.

Predictions Vary

Most of the doubtful seats are in this category with predictions varying as prophets calculate the balance of preferences. This explains the odd fact that at no time since the start of the counting have any two daily newspapers agreed on the result. . Last Sunday’s papers gave Labour as many as 49 seats, while to-day’s papers estimate that the Government will scrape in with as few as 38.

There are many anomalies. Thus in Reid, Mr J. T. Lang has been hailed since the outset as a certain winner in spite of the fact that he lags 5560 votes behind Mr C. A. Morgan (Labour). Political correspondents aver that the bulk of the 14,467 second preference of votes cast for the Liberal candidate, Mr Blaxland, will go to Mr Lang, hut .this depends on which the average Liberal supporter regards as the lesser of two evils—Lang Labour or official Labour. This election which, I understand, is not extraordinary in Australia, has been marked by wild guessing on the part of radio commentators and sections of the press. Last Saturday night we heard announcers proclaiming victory in certain electorates where fewer than 10,000 votes out of a total of 80,000 had been counted. There is no wonder that in such conditions it was hailed as an overwhelming triumph for Labour and an abysmal defeat for the Opposition. Before the polling the Conservative and Liberal authorities were hopeful of nothing more than that the Opposition would gAin eight seats) and would put up 'a fight in 13 more. What has happened has borne out this estimate. Labour has been returned with a working majority hut minus valuable seats and, probably, its deputy-leader. On the votes so far counted the difference between Labour and the main Opposition parties amounted only to 61 per cent, of the total. The result may he even closer when the postal and absentee votes finally reach the polling clerks. Tasmania has liow fallen into line with other States by _ returning a small affirmative majority for the social services referendum, hut the fate of the other two questions is still in doubt. - -