NEXT WEEK’S VOTING

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 182, 29 April 1933, Page 10

NEXT WEEK’S VOTING

Extra Polling-Places for Civic Elections BUSY RETURNING OFFICER One of the busiest men In Wellington nt present is the Returning Officer, Mr. J. Norrie. He is preparing for the civicelections and loan-polls to take place on Wednesday next. When seen yesterday Mr. Norrie (who is undertaking the duties for the first time) said that he had arranged for 70 polling places, which would include 201 polling booths. As there is usually heavy polling at some of the booths in tlie business section of the city, where men could not, as a rule, find the time to wait, Mr. Norrie has arranged for extra booths >n the centre of the city, notably at Armstrong and Springhall’s premises, in Featherston Street, Mr. Dunbar Sloane’s auction rooms on Lambion Quay, Harcourt’s rooms in Panama Street, and two of the City Council's shops in Bowen Street, opposite the rear of the War Memorial. This number of polling places calls for the employment of 201 DeputyReturning Ofiicers, some -100 poll clerks, and about 30 ushers. A very large number of those to be employed as deputies and poll clerks are from the ranks of the unemployed. Mr. Norrie stated that he had been able to employ about 85 per cent, of the applicants for jobs on election day. The colours of the various ballot papers will be as follow:— City Council: Buff. Hospital Board: Pink. Harbour Board: Green. Both of tlie loan ballot papers will be on white paper, but in order to distinguish one from another in making the count, one paper will be printed in black ink, and the other in red. The loan ballot papers only concern those voters who figure on the roll of district electors as ratepayers. As there is no election for .Mayor the first count to be undertaken will be the City Council, the second the Hospital Board, and the third the Harbour Board. Later the Joan papers will be counted. Mr. Norris anticipates that tlie first returns from booths in the more sparsely-populated suburbs wdl begin to come in about 8 p.m., ami thereafter will continue to arrive in a fairly steady stream. Tlie results are to be received in Hie deputy-town clerk’s office on the mai.’i floor. These will be noted, and then will be forwarded to the upstairs corridor, where there will be a large blackboard on which the returns will be posted from time to time for the enlightenment of the candidates and their friends. Tlie results will be announced over the air from time to time from the Concert Chamber. In order to prevent anything iu Hie nature of last-hour congestion, Mr. Norrie hopes that electors will take the opportunity of voting as early as possible. In particular he trusts that women will exercise their privilege reasonably early in the day, so as to give men a chance to record their votes after work without any undue delay.