FINAL STAGE REACHED

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 74, 24 September 1943, Page 8

FINAL STAGE REACHED

GENERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN

POLLING DAY TOMORROW

For a month the electors of New Zealand have been assailed f< verbally by candidates in the General Election campaign—from the * public platforms, at open-air meetings in the streets, and over the ! radio. After tonight candidates will have rim their race, but the ? race has still to be won. The successful candidates in the 76 Euro- ! . pean electorates will be left to the electors tomorrow, when polling- "• wilj take place throughout the Dominion from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. i: Maori electors are voting today, and the results in the four Maori t electorates are expected to be known shortly after 9 o'clock tonight.

. .In spite of war conditions candidates in.the'past four weeks, and some of them for a slightly longer period, have been able to make an extensive coverage of their electorates, and in addition the leaders of the main parties have toured the Dominion. According to reports, in some parts attendances at candidates' meetings have not 'been as large as anticipated, but that is not to be regarded as evidence of public apathy to the issues involved. On the-contrary, there are indications that a fairly live interest is being taken in the poll. The effective civilian roll strength is 1,018,834, but this total includes some members of the forces overseas who were registered and ..whose names remain on the rolls. Although the weather, if it is unfavourable, may have some effect on the numbers who vote, the expectation of the Chief Electoral Officer (Mr. L. Irwin) is that there will be a big poll. 'As explained elsewhere, special arrangements have been made for recording the votes of service personnel both in New Zealand and overseas, and the results of their voting will be included in the returns posted tomorrow night. .? DIFFICULT TO FORECAST. ■ This is the'first wartime election in New Zealand's political j history, and tomorrow Vwiir be the second occasion on which polling has taken place in the Dominion on a Saturday.- Under ordinary; normal peacetime conditions the ■forecasting of election results is a difficult and often a well-nigh impossible task; with the background of the war and with issues that have de-, veloped since the outbreak of the war it is- more difficult still. .Popular opin- j ion seems to be, however, that the Labour Government will be returned to office but that the National Party will make some gains. Although the record total of 291 can- i didates have been nominated and a number of parties or groups are re-! presented, the main issue is generally regarded to be between the National Party and the Labour Party. There will be much interest, however, in some • electorates more than in others, in the effect of the Democratic Labour Party,. which is represented by over; 50 candidates, and also in the support given to Independent Group < candidates and straight-out Independents. .

' In "the Wellington area keenest interest will be taken in the contest for Wellington Central, where the Prime • Minister (Mr. Fraser) is opposed by Mr. Will Appleton (National), Mr. C. G. Scrimgeour (Independent), and Mr. W. J. Hyde (Independent). Interest m this contest extends beyond Wellington; it is Dominion-wide. In a straight-out contest at the General Election in 1938 Mr. Fraser was returned with a majority of 3837 votes over Mr. Appleton. Another Wellington result which will be awaited with interest is j;hat for Wellington West, where Mrs. Catherine Stewart (Labour), who represented' the electorate in the last Parliament, is opposed by three other candidates. Attention will also be focused on whether Labour will be able to retain the Mastertpn. and ,Wairarapa seats.

The first returns for the Wellington electorates should start to come in shortly after the booths close at 7 p.m., and immediately they are received they will be posted on the special display board in front of "The Post", in Willis Street. - By about 11 p.m. it is,expected that it will be possible to obtain a fairly accurate picture of the,position in all electorates and of the state of the parties. . METHOD OF VOTING. The method of voting will ■be the same as that for the General Election' in 1938. Voters will be required to] mark out the.names, of the candidate] or candidates • for whom • they do not desire to vote, leaving the name of their choice untouched. Only one name must be1 left on the ballot paper, otherwise the vote will be informal. Thesame system will apply to the voting on the licensing issues. An important matter to which the attention of electors is drawn is that the electoral ballot paper to be used in most electorates is one printed on New Zealand-made paper similar in colour to the main licensing vote paper. To avoid confusion the electoral Eaper is printed with black crossed ands on the back, and when it is folded and ready for the ballot box,

portion of the black markings on the back will still be visible to the voter and to the deputy returning officer if any instruction is required by the voter as to which box the paper should be placed in. The crossed bands on the back of the electoral paper are there for no other purpose than to indicate that that ballot paper is to be placed in the electoral ballot box. .

LICENSING ISSUES.

the vote on the licensing question, the three issues involved are National Continuance, State Purchase and Control, and National Prohibition. There are also again 12 electorates in which the local licensing issue will have to be decided. They include Wellington West. Wellington East, Wellington South, and Masterton. The'two issues ere Local No-Licence and Local Re* Storation, and for the latter to be car-iied-.a three-fifths majority is required. In the past it has always been the practice to ask voters to record their votes early, but in view of the experience gained in 1938 when electors voted for the first time on a Saturday, on this occasion the people will be helpful if they do. not rush the polling booths in the morning but endeavour as far as possible to spread their voting: evenly over the whole day, avoiding rush periods in the morning and just before "the booths close. Persons exercising absentee votes are also asked to make certain of the electorate in which they are entitled to vote before entering the polling booth. If they do that confusion and delay will lie avoided.