ELECTORAL SYSTEM.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 289, 6 December 1928, Page 17

ELECTORAL SYSTEM.

DEFECTS EXEMPLIFIED. THIRTY-SEVEN MINORITY REPRESENTATIVES. WASTE OF VOTES. Strong condemnation of the present electoral system was expressed by Mr. P. J, O'Regan to a Wellington "Post" representative. In his view the late election affords an excellent illustration both of the defects of that system and of the imperative necessity for effective voting and proportional representation. "The outstanding fact about the election," said Mr. o'Kegan, "is that there are thirty-seven minority representatives. In other words, nearly half the members of the new House of Representatives have been elected by minorities. We are told that the majority must rule, but the plain truth remains that, as things are, the result of an election depends not on how the people vote, but on how their votes are split. Outstanding Men Fail. "I am not dealing wi*h the question in any party spirit, but it is a notorious fact lhat when the party which has just suffered defeat came into power in 1912 it pledged itself to do two things—to repeal the Seeond Ballot Act, and to give us something in place of it. Having m-.de an end of the Second Ballot Act. it found no difficulty in stopping at that and standing by the status quo. To-day it may well be said 'Verily, they have their reward.' It is safe to say that under the proportional system outstanding men such as Messrs. Kolleston and McLcod would never have lost their seats. in every country where proportional representation is in operation the leading men in all parties are invariably elected. '•The present system is wrong in every way. Vake, for example, the huge wastage of votes. We like to see the candidate we support elected by a huge majority. It remains a fact, nevertheless, that all votes in excess of a bare majority are simply wasted. Under the proportional system all votes in excess of the electoral quota are transferred to other candidates, and they are not transferred anyhow, but in strict accordance with the directions given by the voter himself when he numbers the names on his ballot-paper. "Because of hi? power to transfer his vote the elector would ensure its effectiveness, for the reason that he has thereby the power to direct how his vote is to be used if the candidate of hie iirst choice does not require it. Thus the proportional system, by giving the voter a choice of candidates, effectively secures and preserves individual freedom. A Parliament elected under such a system "will be really representative and authoritative. Absurdity in Centres. "The absurdity of the single-member electorate is well illustrated in the case of the larger centres of population, \>here the electoral boundaries are necessarily arbitrary, and inconstant. Surely it is ridiculous to see a city like Wellington, though one constituency for municipal purposes, divided into five for Parliamentary elections! Under the proportional system New Zealand would be divided, say, into fifteen European constituencies. and their boundaries would be rivers and mountain ranges. and other natural features. There would be no need for periodical alterations in boundaries because movements in population cculd be adjusted bv ordaining here a five-member constituency, there a four-member, and so on. "Moreover, under the proportional system, for the first time, we would really have secured the secrecy of the ballot. In scattered country electorates— Mctueka and Westland", for example—there were in the late election as many as a hundred polling place* in some of which not more than a dozen votes were recorded. There can be no secrecy of the ballot at those small booths. W a might just as well revert to open voting. The proportional system requires all the ballot papers to "be counted at one central polling booth Hence there would be no need to publish the details of the polling at the various booths, and thus we would have real secrecy for the voter and an appreciable abatement of ill-feeliii" O Not Too Complicated. "One point in conclusion: Some of oar iil-informed critics condemn the proportional system as being too complicated for the average voter. Well, preferential voting in single-member constituencie? meaens exactly the sanw method of marking the ballot-paper. If the voters can mark three preferences—and unquestionably they can—they can be relied on to mark five or six. "Jn view of the manner in which the great cause of electoral reform has been betra -ed in this country, it is to be hoped" that the new House will face the problem, and settle it once and for all in the only way it can be settled."