ELECTION COUNTS.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20412, 5 December 1931, Page 14

ELECTION COUNTS.

PROCEDURE EXPLAINED. LYTTELTON PETITION IN 1925. It is not expected that the official counts of votes polled in the North Canterbury electorates will be finished until Tuesday or Wednesday of next week, and until that time the doubtful seats —Lyttelton and Mid-Canterbury — will remain in doubt. In almost all electoral offices, yesterday was devoted to the- scrutiny of the rolls, and until that scrutiny is finished the count of ordinary, absentee, postal, and seamen's votes may not bo started. On election day the count in each booth is made by the Deputy-Return-ing Officer, who puts on one side all the votes which ho considers informal. The chocking or scrutiny of the rolls is carried out after the election by the returning officer to ensure that no elector has voted at more than one booth. Chocking is, of course, a long procedure. If it is found that an elector has voted more than once, by visiting more than one booth or by voting by post as well as in a booth, all his votes are cancelled and he is prosecuted. When the scrutiny is finished, the returning officer begins the official count of all votes —'Ordinary, absentee, postal, or seamen's. Every ballot-paper in this count is stamped with a number after it has been dealt with.

Examination of Informal Votes. The returning officer then l turns liis attention to the votes which his deputies have declared informal. He examines the irregularities on each paper, and lias power to allow votes which, in his opinion, show clearly the intentions of the electors. Thoso to whom voting is a very easy and straight-for-ward task would bo surprised at some of the irregularities in marking which aro brought before the returning officer. The most common cases are those in which all or none of the names aro crossed out, or in which the favoured candidate is marked with a cross. But thero are many other ways of marking a paper irregularly and each one has to be considered on its merits. In most electorates, of course, where the winning candidate has a clear majority, the decision on informal votes is not important, but where the polling is as close as it was in Lyttelton, Mid-Can-terbury, or liotorua (where eight votes separate the first and second candidates), this decision may make all tho difference between election and rejection. As a rule, the absentee and postal votes are not counted until after the official count of ordinary votes. When the count is finished, the returning officer makes his declaration that one of the candidates lias oeen elected. • Tho ballot-papers are then placed in parcels, which aro sealed and delivered to tho Clerk of the House of Representatives. These parcels are stored for a year unopened, unless & special order is made, and at tho end of that period they are burnt unopened in the presence of the Clerk of the House oi' Representatives and the Clerk of the Writs. Should a recount be ordered because of some irregularity, the parcels ot ballot-papers are returned to tho electorate, and tho now count is made in the presence of a Magistrate, who has the samo authority to deal with inforinnl votes as n returning officer. Unless some glaring error lias been made, both in the booth count and in the official count, the Magistrate conducting the recount may be expected to «'h<in°re the issue onlv In- his interpretation of the informal votes. Ho may discard some of tho informal votes brought into, tho total count by the returning officer, or on the other hand he mav allow uorne of the informal votes, which the returning officer disallowed. An Interesting Case. It is interesting to recall the position in the Lyttelton electorate in 1925 •when on the official count Mr M. E. Lyons and Mr J. McCombs each had a total of 4902 votes. On a recount before Mr H. A. Young. S.M., several votes were disallowed, with the result that Mr Lyons had a majority of six votes. Mr McCombs then entered a petition to unseat Mr Lyons, and when the case wa3 heard before their Honours Mr Justice Stringer and Mr Justice Ostler, it was found, after a survey had been made, that eight residents of Wainui had been allowed to vote in Lyttelton when 'actually they were in the Ellesmero electorate. Thus, after all, Mr McCombs was declared elected by two votes.

REFORM AND UNITED. PERMANENT UNION ADVOCATED. (rHESS ASSOCIATION TKLIGBAU.) STRATFORD, December 4. Mr W. J. Poison, member for Stratford, and Dominion president of the Farmers' Union, in commenting on the election, said: "While the Coalition victory is substantial, it must be remembered that where a split vote between Reform and United occurred Labour succeeded in winning a seat in several instances. In view of the increased Labour vote in the cities, the folly of such a split must be obvious, and tho necessity for the Coalition is clearly established in the minds of all people of moderate opinion. No one who has the interests of his country at heart can doubt the wisdom of the two Government Parties in getting together. "A proposal has been made that theso two Parties, while working together, should retain separate identities. I hope the public will, refuse tr> tolerate anything of the kind. In the critical times ahead we need a strong, unanimous Government, and I feel that wo have reached a point when all Party considerations should be scrapped, and the two sections of the Government group which are already agreed on fundamentals should decide to become in thought as well as in action ono Party; the Party which is definitely oppgped to Socialism and its teachings." DUNEDIN CENTRAL. (nm association t*lbosa*.) DUNEDIN, December 4. Should Sir Charles Statham hold his majority over Mr P. Neilsen for Dunedin Central, an appeal to upeet the election on the ground of irregularity is probable. It is alleged that at a City booth an elector was handed a voting paper on which Mr Neilsen's name had been crossed out. The elector protested, and the paper was initialled by, a deputy returning officer.