Extended hours for canvass, rejected

Press, 22 July 1980, Page 6

Extended hours for canvass, rejected

An attempt by, Labour councillors to have electoral roll checks made outside normal working hours was rejected by the Christchurch City Council last evening. The council will employ temporary employment programme workers to help, compile- the electoral rolls for this year/s local-body elections. However, any work outside normal working hours would have cost the council at least $25,000.. The council accepted, by a vote of 10:9, a recommendation that will scrap callbacks in the evening or on Saturday morning; telephone work, and street-stalls. Although the counciL has received up to 1500 returns a day from its letter-box drops of enrolment, cards, the cards were rejected as inadequate by Labour councillors.

“So many people get so much bumf in their letterboxes, the forms will be treated as the latest list of bargains from the local supermarket," said Cr D. F. CaygilT. 1 ' He rejected Cr P. J. R. Skellerup.’s suggestion that anyone having difficulty filling the forms should ask a neighbour for help. “We obviously live in different cities,’’ he said. “Cr Skellerup doesn’t realise the lack of neighbourliness in this city.” . ; Cr D. C. Close said it was a great pity that so much effort.was being put into an enterprise that would have only limited success. Workers would call during the day, and they would find that most of those people at home were already on the rolls, he said.

There would also be a very large proportion of people not at home. Cr Close suggested that the T.E.P. workers could work less than a 40-hour week, but work in the evenings and on Saturday; mornings to make up the wages they would have made in a normal working week. Labour councillors also said that T.E.P. workers could help electors with , the “difficult task” of . filling in enrolment forms. The council’s policy and finance committee said in its report that'. . street stalls would have cost $4OOO, and were unnecessary after a household canvass. . The councilh will spend $33,800 on postcards, household circulars, : house-to-house canvass, ■ and general enrolment activities.