ELECTION PETITIONS.

Press, Volume LI, Issue 15218, 4 March 1915, Page 6

ELECTION PETITIONS.

NORTHERN MAORI SEAT.

(PRESS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.) 'WHANGAREI, March 3

The trial of the petition lodged by Nati Paraono Kawiti. of "VVhangarei, and Naero of Kuikoho, against the return of Tau Hcnare, Al.l*. tor the -Northern Maori electoral district, was opened at- Whaugarei to-day before their Honours Mr Justico Hosking and iilr Justice Stringer.

Air Prendergast. asked loav* to add to paragraph 3 Motukaraka. as ;ui additional i>taw whore :>olliug s siiouki bavo taken place, but- wiiere no l>ooth was provided : i'akolai, which was not gazetted «s ;i iwlling-jilace, yot tho deputy.reiurnins officer unpointed for Te Horo, took HM vote*, at Pakotai, wliich place was tir»t gazetteii and then withdrawn.

Mr K*od objeete<l to the amoudmonte being eyeciueti insu-au ot geuorul. llicy woro inaclmissibie, aad it vue.v wero nilowed unaiT parayra]>a S\ he woma asli ioi - an iiujoUiiimeiit. fiio Court judgment on the yoiut. .„,■ Prendergast said To Horo and Karakanui, w-iiure no bootiis wcro provided, although the ylaces wore gaaettoci. were Aa-ive Milages. Te Horo was the centre of a thicKly populiiteu di&trict, and included a Iμll, churchj and a. considerubie number ot dwellinghouses. I'ncre were Maori farms and Maori villages scattered around lotabout ton nii!e-s. To .Horo was looked upon as the headquarters. It was also the nearest booth, but Pakotai was tho nearest booth that was opened, i'akotai, in a direct line, was about nine miles away, but to get to it one had to traverse an almost ininassablo mountain track. It. was about thirty miles to Pakotai by road. Peoplo went to Te Horo to vote, and made strong efforts to have? the noilins-bootb. opened. The same thing occurred at Karatcantii, which was a place where a poll was taken in 1911. ;

Ln renly to Mr Justice Stringer, it was stated that 3922 votes were polled for eight candidates, as against 39(35 in 1911. Tho present member was returned by a majority of 17G. Mr Prendergast submitted that tho number of people prevented voting was sufficient to aifoct the election result. Tho onus was on tho respondent to prove that tho irregularities did not affect the result.

Hedley Russell Hulme, returning officer, said that at first ho could find no trace of Karakanui, it was such a small place. Ho searched tho provincial directory without success. He found it necossary to send the election papers addressed to the deputy care of the postmaster at Waihungarua. Ho received no reply respecting these, and then sent a messago to the postmaster, who replied that to tho best of his knowledge Mr Stokes received tho papers. "Witnoss then thought that the papers had been received. A week after tho election, ho received a letter from the postmaster regretting that ho had led witness astray. At the 1911 election Karakantii polled nine votes. After the luncheon adjournment, the Court decided that tho proposed amendments broke new ground, and therefore wero inadmissible. The evidence snowed that To, Horo district included about 200 voters. Seventy turned up on election day, and were prevented from voting. Tho evidence showed that they favoured Tau Henare, most of those present openly declaring their preference. It is expected that the case will be concluded to-morrow.