Invalid votes

Press, 20 September 1978, Page 16

Invalid votes

Sir, — While there is great panic about the electoral rolls, one wonders how many people cast invalid votes because of lack of knowledge of areas and boundaries and lack of knowledge of what to do at the poil. Door-to-door canvassing could start with political education. The newspapers could do their real jobs by educating and informing the public with articles on how to cast a vote, not on who to vote for. Educated voters will surely help New Zealand to a brighter future, a true democracy. — Yours, etc.. M. M. MILLER.

September 18, 1978. [lnformal votes cast in the last two General Elections have been fewer than 2 per cent of the total in each instance. The reasons for informal votes are not restricted to lack of knowledge, but include also deliberate “protest” votes, suspected plural voting, and disallowed special votes. During coverage of the election, this newspaper will again, as in past years, publish maps of the individual electorates as well as larger scale maps, all of which show the electorate boundaries. At the time the Representation Commission altered electoral boundaries for the forthcoming election, maps were published in this paper which showed not only the new boundaries, but also the old ones for Christchurch and South Island seats. Closer to the day of the election, the newspaper will publish, in line with past elections, polling places for each electorate within the circulation area and information on the procedure to be followed at the polling booth. — Editorl