ELECTIONS.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 19466, 13 November 1928, Page 16

ELECTIONS.

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15.) VOTING BY POST. INSTRUCTIONS TO SCARLET FEVER PATIENTS. Electors \Uio are suffering from scarlet fever, or are in isolation as a result of a member of their household having contracted tho disease, may record their rotes for tbo general election and the licensing referendum under the new system by voting by post. This system has been specially designed to meet the ease of electors who, as a result of illness or inability to reach a polling place, would otherwise be disfranchised. All that is necessary it to apply to the returning officer of the district in which tho elector is registered for a postal vote certificate, which must bo returned before the time of tho close of tho poll. Up to tho present, however, only one person out of .1 fairly considerable number in isolation, has made application for a postal vote certificate. Dr. T. Fletcher Telford, Medical Officer of Health for the Canterbury district, stated yesterday that the following instructions must be observed: — Tho voter, in applying for a postal roting certificate, must place the application in an envelope in which he hag dusted some camphorated chalk. The envelope is then to bo sealed by wetting the gum with clean water. It must be placed in another envelope containing camphorated chalk and sealed with plain water, and addressed to the returning officer. Before being posted the letter must be handed to gome responsible person and dusted with camphorated chalk. These precautions must also be observed in regard to the voting form. Application for a postal vote certificate and postal ballot paper must be made on a form as follows: To the Returning Officer for the Electoral District of I, (Full name.) of (Addresses shown on roll.) (Occupation or description as shown on roll.) hereby apply for a postal vote-certifi-cate and a postal ballot-paper. I declare that— . (1) I am n registered elector of the Electoral District of (2) Tho ground on which I apply to vote by post is : (a) That I will on polling-day be absent from New Zealand. (b) That I will not, throughout the hours of polling on polling day, be within five miles by the nearest practicable route of any polling-place. (c) That I will, throughout the hours of polling on polling-day be travelling under . conditions which will preclude me from attending at any polling-place to vote. (d) That I am ill (or infirm) and by reason of such illness (or infirmity) will be precluded from attending/at' any polling-place io vote. (e) That I will by approaching (or recent) maternity be precluded from attending at any pollingplace to vote. (f) That 1 am a lighthouse-keeper (or member of a lighthousekeeper's staff) (or am the wife of a lighthouse-rkeeper) (or the wife of a member of a light-house-keeper's staff), and will be precluded from attending at a polling-place to vote. NOTE—The elector is to strike out any of the above grounds which do not apply to his or her particular case. I request that a postal vote-certifi-cate and a postal ballot-paper be for•warded to me at the following address: Dated this day of 19 Signature of elector ' Signed and declared by the elector in my presence: Signature of authorised witness: Designation of witness: Address of witness: On receipt of a postal vote-certificato the elector is required 1 to read carefully the extracts from the regulations printed on the back before exercising his Tote. If an elector who is absent from his district has reason to believe that his application will not reach the returning officer for the district of which he is registered as an elector, so as to enable him to receive 1 a postal vote-certi-ficate and postal ballot-paper from that officer in time •to permit of his voting before the poll closes he may make application to some other returning officer. ■ '•..•' Every postal ballot-paper, accompanied by, the respective postal-vote certificate, must be delivered at the office of the returning officer for the district of which the elector is registered as an elector before the time pre- ' scribed for' tho close of the poll, and any envelope containing postal ballotpapers received* after that hour shall do enfaced with particulars of the time and date of receipt, and marked "Informal." An .elector to whom a postal votecertificate has been issued shall not be entitled to vote .at. any polling-place unless he first delivers.to,the deputy returning officer for cancellation his postal vote-certificate and postal ballotpaper. . ~ ' MAORI ELECTORATES. POLLING TO-DAY. . Polling in the four Maori electorates u-ill take place to-day, ; one day earlier than the election for the European members. All the four electorates are being contested and a'close issue is anticipated in the Southern Maori district, the present member. Mr H. W. Uru (Reform) having no fewer than six opponents. The list of candidates is as follows: P. H. Mac Donald (Labour). Tuitr Mak'itanara (United). W. T. Pitama (Independent). J. O. T. Tikao (Reform). *Hi W. Uru (Reform) Eruera Tihema Tirikatene (Ratana Party). T. M. Erihana (Independent). •For tho Northern Maori district the present member, Mr Tau Henare (Reform) is opposed by Messrs Hone Heke (Independent Reform), L. W. Parore < Independent), T. Maika (United), P. Paikea- (Ratana Party), Henare Kingi (Treaty of Waitangi Party). Reti W. Kingi (Treaty of Waitangi Party). The opponent of Sir Maui Pomare (Reform) in the Western Maori electorate is H. T. Ratana (Ratana Party), while in the Eastern Maori electorate 6ir A. T. Ngata '(United) is opposed by P. T. T. Moko (Ratana Party) and Tutaki Rapata (Labour). The procedure in regard to voting at Maori elections is entirely different from that carried out in the European electorates. There is no roll of electors, bat any Maori and any half-caste Maori who is not registered as an elector for a European electorate, may Tote. The law provides that for each polling place there shall be a deputy returning officer and an associate who are under a declaration of secrecy. When the voter enters the polling place |» supplies his full name and the name I

of his tribe or sub-tribe. These are written down by the deputy. The voter gives the name of the candidate for whom he wishes to vote, and it also is written down by the deputy. The voting paper is then signed or initialik„ th e deputy and the associate —posited in the ballot box. In order to preserve secrecy only one voter is allowed to enter a polling booth at a time. The principal polling place in the Southern Maori district will be at Tuahiwi.Pa. and the Christchurch polling place will be in the Art Gallery. Polling.closes at 4 p.m.