VOTING SYSTEMS.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 103, 3 May 1929, Page 8

VOTING SYSTEMS.

CITY COUNCIL ELECTION. TWO CONFLICTING OPINIONS. MR. HOLDSWORTH FAVOURS WARD, MOUNT EDEN MAYOR UPHOLDS PRESENT METHOD. Arguments for and against the present system of electing the City Council were expressed to-day by two men who have figured prominently in the public life of Auckland for some years. Mr. E. H. Pottci*, Mayor of Mount Eden, who has been returned to office unopposed, favours the present system, although he believes that the group system is superior in the case of such bodies as the Auckland Power Board, with jurisdiction over a wide area. On the other hand, Mr. W. J. Eoldsworth, chairman of the Power Board, roundly condemns- the present system as unwieldy and inefficient. Mr. Holdsworth maintains that the ward system is the most practical solution of the problem in that it affords electors an opportunity of selecting and rejecting candidates who are reasonably well known to them. "We have adopted what is, in effect, the ward system for our Parliamentary representation, so what should hinder us from adopting it in the sphere of municipal politics ? The argument that the ward system might prevent electors from voting for a good man because that candidate is in another ward cannot carry weight. An Aucklander might as well say that he would rather vote for a Parliamentary candidate in Wellington than for any of the candidates in his own electorate. Under

Mr. W. J. Holdsworth

the ward system the best men in each district would be elected, all things being equal, and the City Council would be made up of representatives in whom their respective constituents reposed confidence. In existing circumstances it necessarily follows that the Remuera elector can know little or nothing of | the merits of a candidate in, say, Avondale or Point Chevalier, and for that reason might vote blindly against him. Our present inefficient system opens the door to the rejection of the competent and the election of the inefficient." Too Many Informal Votes. During the sittings of the Transport Commission last year, Mr. Holdsworth stressed the inefficiency of the present method of electing the City Council, and in his evidence vigorously advocated the adoption of the ward system. He was met with the rejoinder that a committee was investigating the possibilities of that system. "Unhappily," said Mr. Holdsworth, "that committee did nothing to bring about an alteration, and this year we have repeated the fiasco. I told the Transport Commission that in 1927 there were 2500 informal votes cast in the City Council poll. Once more we find that there . have been an equally large number of informal votes, which only goes to show that such a large ballot paper is beyond the understanding of a considerable percentage of electors. I feel sure that the ward system, under which electors would receive ballot papers containing only a few names, would reduce informal votes to a minimum." Disinclination to Vote. From personal observations, Mr. Holdsworth believes that the unreasonably long list of candidates, numbering 67, made many people disinclined to exercise their privilege on Wednesday. It was not to be expected that elderly folk, and highly-strung people who became flurried when confronted with a list of names, the majority of which meant nothing, would welcome the task of making a selection. Mr. Holdsworth said he was of opinion that many more than the 50 per cent who voted would have gone to the poll gladly had they been given the opportunity of intelligent selection. "The scramble which occurred in some of the more popular polling places was unseemly, and the element of privacy was almost entirely destroyed as a result. People were voting in all sorts of odd corners, because of the crowding," continued Mr. Holdsworth. "There would not have been the same crowding and scrambling bad there not been long delays in the case of many persons who hesitated unduly long before making up their minds what to do. Under the ward system the average intelligent voter would be able to perform his or her task in a few minutes, and feel certain that the ballot papers were in correct order." Value of Whole Area Vote. "The ward system, in my opinion, is no good," said Mr. Potter. "The group system, under which two or more counties, boroughs and road boards may be grouped for purposes of representation on public bodies, is the best system, but it is not practicable in the case of the City Council. For such bodies as the Power Board, the Hospital Board and the Transport Board, which control very wide areas, it is ideal, since the grouped areas have a good degree of community interest. But for the City Council the present system is the best. People will vote for the men they know best, and thej r will vote for those men no matter how many other names the list of candidates may contain." Mr. Potter said it was all to the good that electors should have the right to a vote over the whole area, in that they were enabled to vote for candidates whom they believed to be good men but for whom they could cast iw vote if the ward system were in operation. More than that, Mr. Potter would not say.