COUNTING VOTES

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 189, 8 May 1931, Page 10

COUNTING VOTES

Inexpert Men on Staffs

RETURNS DELAYED The staff, permanent and temporary, engaged on the civic elections in Wellington, numbered approximately 700, and included a large number of unemployed. Among these were men who had on previous occasions acted as poll clerks or in some other capacity at elections, and who were quite competent. There were others who, upon realising the nature of the duties, declined to undertake them, and two men were fortunate -enough to secure regular employment in the meantime, and so relinquished the one day’s work at the election. Some of those who remained were unable to do properly what was required of them. There were instances where men had to borrow 8/6 to pay the unemployment levy before they could be engaged. The principal officials were members of the council’s permanent staff or men who had previously held such positions. Most of those drawn from the unemployed were engaged as ushers or in directing traffic, only a few undertaking clerical work. The polling results did not reach the Town Hall as quickly as was expected. Results were telephoned to the Town Hall from the booths, but these figures were checked by the official returns from the booths before the announcements were made. It was in this way that some delays occurred. The results from one set of booths at the Newtown Library were telephoned through, but the result sheets did not come to hand on Wednesday night, and it was not possible to check them. They had not come to hand at a late hour yesterday. . . A complete set of instructions, voting papers, return sheets, etc., was enclosed in each ballot box for the officer in charge. One sheet was for the summarised result at the booth, and had three lines in the top right corner for the name of the booth, the officer in charge and other information. In three cases these sheets were returned without this vital information, and although the votes were counted it was impossible to say to what district they belonged, and for the moment are described as “unknown.”