Plural Voting By Businessmen

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29956, 18 October 1962, Page 18

Plural Voting By Businessmen

(New Zealand Press Association) INVERCARGILL, October 17. Several prominent Invercargill businessmen voted twice in Saturday’s local body elections, the city returning officer and town clerk, Mr L. A. Best, said today.

It appeared, said Mr Best, that these men were under the misconception that they were entitled to vote twice —once for themselves and once for the firms of which they were principals. “My office must accept some of the responsibility for this because it allowed the names of these men to appear twice on the roll—once for them personally and once for their firms.” said Mr Best Many of the men when told of their error had expressed amazement, said Mr Best.

The comment of one was: “Oh, well, send me some cigarettes in gaol ” Mr Best said that in each case the second vote of each man would be withdrawn from the ballot and hi* personal vote left in.

“We take a very serious view of plural voting by these businessmen under their apparent business qualification, and steps will be taken to see that it does not happen again.” said Mr Best There had also been a number of case* of other apparent plural voting, but these votes had been found to be

valid. Most of them occurred where partnerships and joint family homes were enrolled in one of the parties' names only. There were no cases of deliberate plural voting, said Mr Best. The Municipal Corporations Act, 1953, provides that the name of any person shall not appear more than once on the district electors* list or district electors’ roll of an undivided borough. Where a person has a rating qualification and another qualification, his name shall be entered on the roll in respect of bis rating qualification only, the act says.

Rieearton HA PoeL—ln hh report to the board of governors at the monthly meeting yesterday, the principal of Rieearton High School, Mr A. J. Gafauford. said that the completion of the school's swimming pool project was now in sight The filtration plant would be installed next week.