MID-CANTERBURY SEAT.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20414, 8 December 1931, Page 9

MID-CANTERBURY SEAT.

MR JONES DEFEATED. MR CONNOLLY'S MAJORITY INCREASED TO 136. The official count of votes polled in the Mid-Canterbury electorate, which was completed late last night, has left no doubt of the defeat of tho Minister for Agriculture (the Hon. David Jones) by Mr Jeremiah Connolly, the Indepen-dent-Liberal candidate. Mr Connolly won the seat by a majority of 136 votes.

The returns on election day gave Mr Connolly a lead of only 91 votes, but there were then a further 559 absentee and postal votes to be counted. These were allocated in the official count which the Returning Officer (Mr A. J. Ching) began at 10 a.m. yesterday and completed at 9 o'clock last night. Tho final figures, compared with those on tho first count, were as follows:

The additional votes were cast as follows:

Since neither gained one-quarter of the votes polled by Mr Connolly, Mr Hunter and Mr Wightman will each forfeit his deposit of £io. At the 1928 General Election Mr Jones had a majority of 55 over Mr Connolly:— Votes. Jones (K.) .. .. 4137 Connolly (U.) .. .. 4082 C. M. Williams (Lab.) .. 905 K. W. Wightman (I.) .. 242

PLURAL VOTING. SEVERAL OFFENCES SUSPECTED. A HEAVY PENALTY. While these may yet be explained, several cases of plural voting at the General Election last Wednesday aro auspocted by the returning officers of the electorates in and about Christchurch. Any such cases, of course, are revealed by the scrutiny of the rolls (which has been proceeding during th<3 past few days) and are at once investigated. Often it is found that the error has been caused by tho poll clerks ruling out tho wrong lines on the rolls, making it appear that some electors have voted more than oncc. If the present suspicions are confirmed, police prosecutions will bo made. The offence of "personation'' is treated seriously under the Electoral Act of 1927. Section 228 of the Act defines "personation" as follows: — "Every person. commits the offence of personation who at any eloction applies for a voting paper in the name of some other person, living or dead, or of a fictitious person, or jWho having voted once at any such election applies again at the same election for a voting paper in his own name." The penalty for the offence is stated in Section 167:

"(1) Every deputy returning officer may, without any other warrant than this Act, cause to be arrested and taken before a Justice any person reasonably suspected of committing or attempting to commit at a polling place any act of personation as defined in Section 22S hereof.

"(2) All constables shall aid and assist the deputy returning officer in the performance of his duty. "(3) It shall be the duty of the returning officer to institute a prosecution against any person whom foe believes to have committed the offence of personation, or of aiding, abetting, Counselling, or procuring the commission of that offence by any person at the election for which he is returning officer. "(4) Every person who commits the offence of personation, or of aiding, abetting, counselling, or procuring tho commission of that offence is liable to two years' imprisonment with or with--out hard labour." The Official Counts. Tho official counts and scrutinies of the rolls, are still proceeding in all North Canterbury electorates. The Lyttelton seat, for which Mr J. McCombs (Labour) leads Mr F. W. Freeman (Coalition) by 105 votes, is unlikely to be decided until to-morrow. Apart from Mid-Canterbury, all the other seats were won by substantial majorities, so that there is no great interest in the further counts. The final meeting of the Coalition Committee, formed of the United Party and Reform Party executives, was held in Christchurch last night. Mr J. R. Cuningham was in the chair. Accounts were passed for payment., and the result of the committee's work was generally commended. O AMARU. (PRESS ASSOCIATION TXr.EGRAM.I ■ OAMARUV December 7. The final figures for tho Oamartt scat arc:— J. A. Macpherson (C.) • • o£>9— J. C. Kirkncss (I.Tt.) • • • • 2946 P. Malthus (Lab.) .. •• '-63S Majority for Macpherson .. 1046 GISBORNE. (TRESS ASSOCIATION TXUOBAM.) GISBORNE, December 7. The official recount of the votes polled in the contest for the Gisborne seat increases Mr Coleman's majority

from 234 to 310. The official figures counting postal ancl absentee votes are: D. \V. Coleman (Lab.) ••• . 4426 W. D. Lysnar (1.C.) ... 4116 H. E. de Latour (C.) ... 1307 Majority for Coleman ... 310 NELSON. (rRSSS ASSOCIATION TSL-IGBAM.) NELSON, December 7. The official declaration of the poll for the Nelson seat is:— 11. Atmore (1.) ••• 4741 H. Everett (C.R.) ... 4645 Majority for Atmore ... 96 The figures issued on election night gave Mr Atmore's majority as 78. Since then 403 absentee votes, 18postal votes, and 15 seamen's votes have been counted.

Votes. First Official Count. Count. J. Connolly (I.C.) .. 4159 4437 IT. Hunter (Lab.) .. 274 310 David Jones (C.) .. 4068 4301 I{. W. Wightman (I.) 24G 258 Informal 41 G7 Total .. S7SS 9373

.2 2 o .2 a b O a H Connolly .. 210 54 12 282 Hunter 35 2 — 37 Jones .. 192 Do ft 251 Wightmau 32 2 1 15 Informal 4 — — -I Totals . . 459 Ill 39 5S9