Two try to re-enter council contest

Press, 8 September 1989, Page 5

Two try to re-enter council contest

By

MICHAEL RENTOUL

Two Canterbury Regional Council candidates who had their nominations declared invalid last week will make a lastminute bid today to reenter the contest. Dr Neil Cherry, of Canterbury Labour, and Mrs Pieter Stewart, Of Christchurch Action, were disqualified because they were nominated by people who did not live in the area in which the candidates sought election. Legal counsel will this afternoon present on the candidates’ behalf submissions to the Minister of Local Government, Dr Bassett. Dr Cherry said he would seek to have his technical disqualification, overturned as it was contrary to the spirit of the Local Elections and Polls Act. He wanted an Order in Council to enable him to resubmit a valid nomination.

The legal bid follows an unsuccessful attempt to get the Christchurch Transition Committee to make representations on the matter. Mr Alex Clark told yesterday’s committee meeting that the public was “deeply confused” about the new local-government structure, and that the candidates’ nominations were submitted “in good faith.” In the last-minute rush of nominations, the returning officer did not have the chance to check the validity of nomination forms. His motion that the committee appeal on behalf of four disqualified candidates including, Dr Cherry and Mrs Stewart, was lost by six votes to four. Mr Patrick Neary said it was anomalous that a candidate could stand in a ward in which he or she was not resident, yet the nominator had to be resident in that ward.

Mrs Margaret Murray said the problem was that the two metropolitan constituencies for the Canterbury Regional Council were too large. She supported Mr Clark's motion. But Mr Fred Blogg said the disqualifications were simply the result of carelessness. Dr Cherry has said tie did not check the address of one nominator! assuming the northern part of the Fendalton electorate, in which the : nominator lived, was part of the Fitzgerald constituency. He said there had been confusion about the boundaries of the two constituencies, Fitzgerald and Godley. The returning officer, Mr Max Robertson, yesterday ruled out delaying the election process. “I’m afraid elections are not run by aggrieved candidates,” he said. The printing of about 264,000 ballot papers was set to begin this morning.