MUNICIPAL ELECTION METHODS.

Evening Star, Issue 19773, 25 January 1928, Page 6

MUNICIPAL ELECTION METHODS.

Methods of election to public bodies are a constant source of discussion. No system has yet been devised that gives satisfaction to everyone. To replace the old first-past-tlie-post custom proportional representation, preferential voting, and the second ballot have been tried, and in many cases discarded. In few instances has the verdict been in favor of the change. At a meeting of the Dunedin Ratepayers’ Association on Monday night suggestions were made that the members of our City Council are not elected in a way that gives the best representation to the ratepayers. The introduction of any of the above-mentioned methods was not advocated, but the opinion was expressed that a return to the ward system was advisable, and it was decided to have the question discussed at a combined meeting of the ratepayers’ associations of the city and suburbs. The present method of election has obvious defects. We return twelve councillors to manage our affairs, and that means as a rule that a ballot paper containing twenty-eight or thirty names is presented to the puzzled voter. One speaker at the ratepayers’ meeting declared that “ under the existing system the twelve councillors did not know 50 per cent, of the residents, and not 50 per cent, of the residents knew the members of the council.” To this it might be replied, however, that the voters form their estimates of the usefulness of the councillors for the most part from the Press reports of the proceedings of the council. The chief drawback is the complete ignorance of a large proportion of those who go to the poll as to the qualifications of the new candidates'"that come forward. This, combined with the unwieldiness of a ballot paper containing so many names, seems to be the strongest argument put forward for a reversion to the old system. The contention that the job under present conditions is too big for the individual councillor carries little weight. It is not necessarily his duty to visit every hole and corner of the city, but to safeguard the interests of the ratepayers in the broader matters of policy. When the ward system ! was in operation it failed to give satisfaction, and that was the reason for it being abolished. It is an encouragement of parochialism and the prosecution of sectional interests, and there is no cogent reason for direct ward representation. Matters of local interest can be brought before the council by the various ratepayers’ associations, which can fulfil a useful function in this direction. The present system is in operation in the four cities, and on broad principles it seems the best available under present conditions. In Auckland there has been some discussion on the matter, and it is to come up for consideration at the Municipal Conference to be held at Nelson in March. v Whaff is wanted,

however, is not so much a change m our method of electing our councillors as the rousing of the citizens from tho apathy ami indifference that are so obvious at election times. In this respect tho ratepayers’ associations may he able to accomplish some good work.