Mammoth effort for votes

Press, 13 July 1984, Page 1

Mammoth effort for votes

Political parties in Christchurch are gearing up for a mammoth organisational effort tomorrow to get their supporters out to vote at the General Election.

Labour Party officials say they will have about 2000 people working in Christchurch electorates on election day and National Party officials say their workers will be out in hundreds.

The Social Credit Party will have about 250 workers in its St Asaph Street headquarters and on the streets. The New Zealand Party will have about 150 people out, but most of its efforts will be directed from its city office in Armagh Street. All the four main parties will offer transport for

people who have difficulty getting to a polling booth and can make arrangements for special votes. They will also have scrutineers to monitor the voting in many polling booths throughout the city.

The Labour regional secretary, Mrs Kathie Lowe, said that her party would be trying to get people out to vote early because worsening weather was forecast on election day. The forecast is for a change to cold southerlies and showers. She believed bad weather would not deter people from voting because “people feel so strongly about it this time,” but she was concerned that it would lead to greater demands for transport. She said that Labour

Party workers would start early tomorrow morning to encourage supporters to get out to vote. The party uses a system where supporters who have been identified in previous canvassing are approached. In some electorates party workers will be door-knocking and in others they will reach supporters by telephone.

Mrs Lowe said Labour Party workers would put a special effort into the Fendalton, Rangiora, and Selwyn electorates—all National-held seats which the party hopes to win this year. There would be about 300 workers in Fendalton alone.

The secretary of the Can-terbury-Westland division of the National Party, Mr

Graeme Johnstone, said that there would be hundreds of party workers out. Most would be working from electorate and branch headquarters. Like Labour, National runs a “blue dot” system which identifies people who have indicated that they are supporters to canvassers. They are approached to make sure they get out to vote.

Mr Johnstone said that National would put special efforts into Fendalton, Rangiora, Yaldhurst, and Timaru and that workers from other electorates would help out in those areas.

The party expects to have about 500 workers in Fendalton on election day—about 250 people door-

knocking, about 150 scrutineers in polling booths, about 50 at the party head3uarters, and about 100 rivers on stand-by if needed. The effort will be aided by the use of a computer to keep a record of those who have voted. Social Credit will have a full “E.D.O.”—party jargon for election day organisation—in Sydenham, Avon, and Lyttelton. Its biggest effort will go into Sydenham, where the party ran second to Labour in the 1981 election.

Party workers will telephone all known supporters to remind them to vote. Scrutineers in the polling booths will record the names of those who have voted, so that other workers can chase up supporters

who have not visited the poll.

The New Zealand Party, will have a team of workers in its city offices to answer telephone calls, arrange transport for voters, and help with special votes. Fendalton will also be the focus of attention for the party’s workers, along with Selwyn, Sydenham, Avon, and Lyttelton. The party’s Fendalton candidate, Mr Bob Radley, said he expected to have about 90 workers out tomorrow. He said he had not been able to set up the same kind of sophisticated election organisation that National and Labour had, but his workers would approach identified supporters and help people to get out to vote.