THE STRATFORD ELECTION

Evening Star, Issue 17319, 6 April 1920, Page 2

THE STRATFORD ELECTION

[Pek United Peess Association.] WELLINGTON, April 5. There is apparently some agitation in the Stratford district on account of the delay of the new election to fill the vacancy caused bv the voiding of the election as the result of the petition of Mr Hine and other*’. • The Prime Minister made a statement on the subject to-day. “Statements have been made,” said Mr Massey, “ that the Stratford election ha? been purposely delayed by the Government. That is not the case. In a case such as that of Stratford the finding of the Election Court is reported to Mr Speaker, and the difficulty in the present case arises from the fact that there is no speaker In the period between the dissolution of the expiring Parliament and the meeting of the new Parliament. The report is addressed to Mr Speaker, and the envelope cannot be opened; but it is necessary in all such cases to obtain a quasi official record of the certificate of the court which makes the election void, and this is obtained from the records of the Court itself. This has been done, but it was done only a few davs ago. The vacancy will be gazetted to-morrow. According to statute an Interval of 10 days is required after the gazetting of the notice before the Governor can be advised to issue a warrant for the writ. 1 he writ will be issued in due course, and the election will take place thereafter without delay.”