Check on rolls

Press, 16 August 1980, Page 14

Check on rolls

. : . Sir, —. Along with others in this area we would like to' express our/disapproval of the, - waste;’ of.ratepayers’ money as. incurred in bthe printing arid -.distributing of the* ;/ envelope ./ .marked' important and addressed to “all that live' at this' address.” The contents -were a business reply envelope, addressed to the Town Clerk, two enrolment forms for enrolment ori the district

electrical/roll for the City of Christchurch, and an explanatory,letter saying that a canvasser had called checking the roll and found, no-one at home. In fact, nobody did call; the letter was put in the mail box. . Surely, with the economic climate of today better use could be made of ratepayers’ money. Rate increases are already causing hardship to people on fixed incomes and to low income families. Seeing cards have been posted to electors advising that they are on the roll, the above project was quite unnecessary. It would be interesting to know the cost. Yours, etc., Mr R. P. ROBINSON, • Mrs I. C. ROBINSON. August 7, 1980.

[Mr J. H. Gray, General Manager and Town Clerk, replies: “The canvass of all properties in the city to update the electoral roll was carried out to ensure as accurate a roll as possible. Cards posted to electors achieve the objective of confirming enrolment -to many; but naturally they cannot be directed to people of whom we are unaware, hence the household circularand the • door, to door follow-up. The cost of this follow-up was approximately $35,000 of which $27,000 was wages under the Temporary Employment Programme paid by the Department of Labour. /The canvasser who called at: your correspondent’s property - insists that she knocked on all doors adequately and left the envelope in the mail box if nobody was at home. As a matter of record, during; the period June 23 to August 9, almost 30,000 changes have been recorded in the electors’ roll comprising 12,500 additional ' entries, 10,500 removals, and 7,000 alteration's of detail. This represents changes in total amounting to almost one-third of the roll before that date and demonstrates the effort that has been put into the project. The roll closes on September 12.”]