POLLING PRELIMINARIES.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 282, 27 November 1919, Page 11

POLLING PRELIMINARIES.

HURRY UP AND ENROL. GO AS YOU PLEASE MAORI VOTE. The Prime Minister's announcement yesterday that the writs for the general elections will be issued on Friday next means that a Gazette notice will appear, probably on Thursday, dissolving Parliament, after which, no one will have tho right to put the magic letters "M.P." after his name till the elections have been decided. Technically, an elected man is not a member of Parliament until he has been sworn in—he is merely member elect, but in these days such minor details are usually allowed to go overboard with other unimportant truck, and the essentials recognised. If the election writs are issued on Friday next, as promised by the Premier, the electoral rolls throughout New Zealand will automatically close at six. o'clock on tbe evening of the same day, so that tardy electors have just three more days in which to ensurethe putting j of their names on the roll against the performance of their duty as members; of the Commonweal on polling day. In I previous years absent voters and seamen have been obliged to apply for their •permits and rights, as the case might be, not later than the day on which the j writs were issued. This year, however, as the result of an amendment passed in the last session of Parliament, registered electors who anticipate being ah- 1 sent from their electorates on election day, can, if they so desire, secure an absent voter's permit or a seaman's right up to and including the day preceding the general election. But the application must not be left so late that the Registrar of Electors cannot get thej permit or right to the applicant in time for its use on election day. This year the Maori elections will ba held on December 16th—a day earlier than the European elections. In 1914 the Maori elections were held on December 11th, or a day later than the European elections, while in previous elections the Maori members were elected a week later than their European fellow members. The generally haphazard nature of the Maori elections has given rise to a strong feeling for some time past that there should be a -Maori roll prepared for elections in the same manner as there is a European roll, and a move was afoot to" have the law altered in this direction respecting Maori elections this year. Departmental inquiries showed, however, that an enormous amount of work would be entailed in getting the necessary rolls prepared, and that it could not be done in the brief time at the disposal of the Electoral Department, especially in view of the heavy work of fixing up th e European rolls., So the Government decided to postpone! bringing the native voters into line with their fellow pakeha citizens until the officers of the electoral staff had a little more leisure for the task.