SUBSTITUTES FOR BALLOT BOXES

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27583, 14 February 1955, Page 10

SUBSTITUTES FOR BALLOT BOXES

Buckets Likely To Be Adopted' (Prom Our Own Reporter) WELLINGTON, February 13. Electors in future General Elections are likely to miss one feature of .polling booths that has existed since voting by secret ballot began. Ballot boxes are on the way out. They are likely to be replaced by ballot buckets. At the: last election in November, metal bijekets of Watieus sizes were used experimentajly in some country polling booths, and they proved a suecess.>i-.- ■ Jw' ■ The buckets have no handle, but ,they have lids which can be locked into place. In the lid is the slot to receive voting The buckets used 1 last year proved convenient for handling, and they stood up. to the heavy wear and tear of transport better than the wooden boxes. A big advantage of the buckets is the fact that there is likely to be far less waste when the ballot receptacles are stored away between elections. Wooden boxes are attacked by borer, and many collapse from the weight of boxes stored on top of them. There will be much saving of space for storage, too, as the buckets and lids can be nested. It is likely that as replacements for boxes become necessary, buckets will be bought. The Electoral Act mentions ballot boxes, not buckets, but it is not thought that a technicality in nomenclature will stand in the way of progress.