VAIN INGENUITY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 58, 9 March 1935, Page 13

VAIN INGENUITY.

SOUTH AMERICA ELECTIONEERING

BUENOS AIRES. February 10.

The ingenuity of the Provincial party politicians —or the wire pullers among them charged with the delicate task of seeing that the people vote right—was again displayed in the recent elections in tiie province of Tucuman, according to Press reports from the scene of action.

Faced with insuperable difficulties in working the "chain vote" and other devices to insure "correct" voting because of the precautions taken against them, these gentry came to the conclusion that the next best thing was to see that the doubtful voter did not vote at all. Ten pesos was fixed as a suitable sweetener to the citizen who would forego his right to the franchise. Accordingly he was given half a ten peso bill (neatly severed by scissors) previous to the election day, and the other half was handed to him later when he produced his identification card lacking the official stamp which it would have carried if he had entered the polling booth.

Judging by the number of joined ten peso bills now in circulation, considerable . business was done in Tucuman. The sad thing, of course, is that the opposition candidates won the election just the same.