ELECTORS, ENROL!

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 76, 31 March 1913, Page 5

ELECTORS, ENROL!

LISTS CLOSING TO-MORROW. BROADNESS OF THE FRANCHISE. VOTING QUALIFICATIONS EXPLAINED. Those electors who leave it until the last moment to enrol—and they are many —should remember that to-morrow represents the final opportunity for placing their names upon the rolls in connection with the City Council, Harbour Board, Hospital Board, suburban and other local body elections. These elections take place upon the 30th' of April, and under the provisions of the Act the rolls must finally close at 5 p.m. to-morrow. This is the first occasion in the history of the Dominion when so many elections have taken place upon the one day. And in view of the issues involved, it is surprising that more concern is not displayed by those whose names are not upon the roll. Apparently the radical changes introduced by the Municipal Corporations Act of 1908 are not thoroughly understood; at any rate, _ the total number of names on the Toll indicates that they are not thoroughly appreciated, and it is very evident that the franchise is not as widely availed of as it should be.

The franchise in connection with these elections (for which one roll suffices) is almost as broad as that under which Parliament is elected. Prior to the 1908 Act coming into force, only ratepayers could vote. Now a residential qualification gives the right to vote to almost every adult. For the guidance of electors'who have not yet claimed enrolment it should he remembered that there are three qualifications—freehold, rating, and residential. The possessor of any of these qualifications has the right to a vote, though the possession of all three qualifications does not mean that the holder is entitled to more than one vote in the district ; n. which he is enrolled. The freehold qualification applies when any person is the owner of a freehold estate in land of a capital value of not less than £25. A rating qualification may be possessed by any person whose name appears for the time being as the occupier of any ratable property. The residential qualification, which is almost as broad as the Parliamentary franchise, provides that every person is deemed to possess a residential qualificacation within a borough if he has resided for one year in New Zealand, and has resided iv a borough or the ward of a divided borough during the three months then last past, and is a British subject. Furthermore, the residential qualification may be considered to apply to a person who has been for three I months a residential occupant within such borough as a tenant of a tenement the rent of which is not less than £10 per year, or as a sub-tenant or joint teuant of a tenement the rent of which is at the rate of not less than £10 per year for each of the several sub-tenants or joint tenants. A peculiarity of the system is that while no man may possess more than one vote in any one district, he may exercise a dozen ditferent votee in as many districts if he possesses the necessary qualifications. l'"or instance, a man may live at Mount Eden, and enrol fKere' on a residential qualification. The same man may pay £10 per year office rent in the city, and is

therefore entitled to enrolment on the city roll, and consequent participation in the city elections on all three local bodies. Small freehold properties in Newmarket, Onehunga and Devonport, each of a capital value of not less than £25, would also entitle the same man to enrol and vote in each of those districts. About the only people who do not need to call on the returning officer tomorrow to inquire whether they are enrolled are those whose names arc on the valuation list. These people are enrolled whether they like it or not. Interested parties have been carrying on maid canvassing campaign.*, and in this way a few of those entitled to enrolment as residents have been placed on the rolls. But the lethargy of the average elector is proved by the example of residents of Arch Hill —the latest district to join the city. There, in the past, as a road board district, only ratepayers have been entitled to a vote, and their total roll — 357 najues—has been added to the city. No-w, however, that the district becomes part of a municipality, the residential qualification applies, and if the residents carp to make use of their new privilege before five o'clock I to-morrow afternoon, over GOO of them may figure on the city roll at the forthcoming elections. The main rolls of the city have cloeed with a total of 24,fi5G names, and the supplementary lists when they close to-morrow, will, it is believed, contain about another 2,000. A petition, signed bi- 5.000 people, has

been lodged with the Town Clerk, asking that a poll should be taken on the

same day relating to the desirability or otherwise, in the opinion of the citizens

of Auckland, of making Saturday after noon a compulsory half-holiday.