SCHOOL ELECTIONS

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 210, 29 May 1908, Page 7

SCHOOL ELECTIONS

• FOUR PROTESTS. DECISION OF EDUCATION BOARD. FRESH ELECTION FOR MOUNT COOK. . The Wellington Education Board had bo- : fore it yesterday the protests of no fewer than four school districts against the results of. the annual School -'Committee elections, which were held in April last. ' . Certain ' electors of the Mount - Cook district petitioned tho Board for an investigation as to. tho conduct and legality of the election which took , place in their district, and set forth, in a lengthy statement (which , appeared;-in The Dominion yesterday) theroason why. .. . On tho . petition being' re'iid, Captain. M'Donald said that tho regulations governing such elections did not appear'to bo ■ satisfactory. "Who was to bo responsible for explaining the. boundaries "of ; a school district, an?l defining the status of electors to a - meeting. bf householders on-the night of the - election? ; There was no means of checking • tho roll; in fact, there was 110 roll. . Mr. /\V.-C. Buchanan said that the Act was one of thoso unfortunate pieces of legislation which appeared to have been rushed through ■■ Committoe without-being-threshed' out in a business-like way.. Ho moved that a fresh election be held.. The Chairman (Mr. Lee) concurred. . The whole business, he said,' appeared to bo quite irregular. Mr. Hogg, was of opinion that adequate notice should bo given of tho fact that another election was • pending. 'The event should bo advertised twice in each of the •„ threo papers. It . was decided to give , notice of a fresh election, to bo held three weeks from tho of notice. - Similar .-protests ' were received from Petone, Mhrtiriboroiigh,; and Pongaroa. In the case of Petone; it was decided' that tho protest against the return of one of tho candidates be upheld,, and that the next highest on the list be selected to take his place. . j ■' .. . ■ This course was also adopted in the case of ; Martinborough. y _ 'With regard to. tho protest from Pongaroa, . - 'it was-decided that no action be.taken, : as - the irregularity complained of did'not affect tho result. . ' ; ■