SEVEN DOUBTFUL SEATS

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26516, 3 September 1951, Page 6

SEVEN DOUBTFUL SEATS

Official Results Oj September 11 (From Our Own Reporter) WELLINGTON, Sept 1 Final results m the seven doub«ui Parliamentary seats will not beiJ nounced - officially until Septembers Absentee and postal votes, both seas and in New Zealand, have wtT be added to last night’s figures, and there is a vision allowing a period of 10 dan the poll before the final counts eiii. declared. ‘ l * The electorates in doubt are hi merston North, Gisborne, Lyttelto Waimarino, St. Kilda, Napier, and B? kill, and the first four are particohrh liable to chance. The Deputy Chief Electoral (Mr L. Irwin) said to-night that b estimated there there were abmt 70,000 absentee and postal votes gill to be counted. In addition, there the votes of 4979 civilians who » overseas and 1723 servicemen overseas, including 1040 votes froa r Force. • Overseas Civilian votes include tte following:—London. 4029; Sydney 458 Melbourne, 140; Canberra, 19- Dantroon, 9. < Mr Irwin explained that under th Electoral Act a period of 10 diyi U to elapse after the poll before ovum absentee votes were declared, thi meant that the final result in any w could not be given by the electors] authorities before September 11. If recounts were applied for, this could further delay the outcome. Mr Irwin said he was unsble b state the number of absentee ud postal votes outstanding for individual electorates. All the information tn department had at present was a amber of advice telegrams from some returning officers saying that a certa number of these votes had been lodpd These returns at present were inan> plete, but he would telegraph all returning officers to-morrow asking ho» many qf these votes had been teeeiwi In the 1949 election 73,000 absttte and postal votes were received la At 76 European electorates. The number of votes announced yesterday comprise purely the preMmfcir count by the depuly retuminf The first task to-morrow for (At returning officers will be to senitois the rolls to detect anv cases < dual voting. Once the rolls are deud the official count is commenced, but it cannot be completed until all creneai votes have been’received. /rt»rL