Court orders Hunua recount

Press, 14 May 1979, Page 2

Court orders Hunua recount

PA Auckland-j A recount of votes cast ini the Hunua electorate during' the General Election hes been ordered by the ESectoral Court, and the couii will make a special report to the House of Representatives. In its judgment on Friday, after the hearing of the H unua election petition, the Court said that the time might have come for each person to have an identification card, to prevent double-voting. Dealing with what it cadis the "carrying forward” of the names of Maori electors who had not exercised their option to be on a Maori roll, the. court said: "Had this present petition related to a Maori electorate it seems difficult to see how a court could have avoided declaring all the elections in Maori electorates to! have been invalid on thej ground that the rolls con-' tamed an unspecified number; of unqualified persons.” The court has appointed Mr! M. L. S. Cole to conduct thej scrutiny and recount. It hasi

[instructed the scrutineer to ' remove from the ballot the I votes disallowed by the 'Court; to return to the ballot votes formerly disallowed but .restored by the Court; and to conduct a scrutiny of valid votes and disallow as informal those not complying ■with the Court’s rulings in the “ticks and crossess’ argument. When the Hunua inquiry began, the petitioners challenged 1100 votes. The court has disallowed 480. One of the votes disi allowed was that of the prin'dpal petitioner. Winston Raymond Peters, the unsuccessful National Party candictate. His vote was disallowed because he exercised, a 1976 census option for the Maori roti and was not entitled to ■ register on the Hunua gen!eral roll. Mr Malcolm Douglas (Labour), on the original count won the election from Mr Peters by 310 votes.

The recount is expected to' be completed in about a week.