ABSENTEE VOTES

Evening Post, Volume XCVIII, Issue 116, 13 November 1919, Page 7

ABSENTEE VOTES

TO THE EDITOR.

Sir, —I was a poll clerk for absentee voters last December, and in my opinion the system under which the branch is run is rather out of date. In order to obtain a voting paper an absentee, in addition to holding a permit and signing name in presence of returning officer, has to fill in an application form for a bal-lot-paper. As many people are not expert writers, the.forms have to be com- ! pleted by poll clerk. These forms do not appear^ to be of any use, andeshould be cut ou"t altogether, as they are a nuismico to the public. Then 1 was told a telegram had to be despatched to the respective returning officers, a3 each absentee vote- was recorded, giving the permit number. As I thought " this was ridiculous, I sent only one wire to each returning officer towards end of day. When the poll closed, the absentee votes had to be put in envelopes and posted, but I could not see any reason why the papers could not have been scrutinised, and the results wired as in the case of ordinary votes. If this were done, then the result of the poll would be available on election night, and the country would | not bo held: in suspense till the last of the votes were counted. This would also remove any suspicion of faking absentee votes in case of a close contest. The Defence Department's system, as was to .be expected, was even more ridiculous, as not only the voting papers, but the ballot-boxes also, had to be posted, boxes larg« enough to contain thousands of voting papers being despatched containing a dozen or so, and even less. However, the b.illot-papers of soldiers undergoing hospital treatment had to be separated from the others—for disinfectant purposes, -1 presume—so that two boxes bad to be posted where a foolscap envelope would have served the purpose. There appears to me to bo no reason why absentee, seamen, and soldiers' votes should be treated differently from ordinary votes, and I would be glad if you will publish this letter, in the hope that it may lead to some improvement.—l am, etc., " RIP VAN WINKLE. * 13th November.

Tho Caledonian Society has secured tho use of the Basin Reserve for a big amateur sports ,'jnthering. to be held oil Boxing Day. The Wellington Cricket) Association will occupy the Reserve on New Year's Day. ;