ECHO OF ELECTION

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXII, Issue 42, 2 February 1932, Page 7

ECHO OF ELECTION

FINDING ROLL NUMBERS. CHARGE DISMISSED. Palmerston North, February 1. At the last general election the Labour candidate for the Palmerston electorate, Mr J. Hodgens, employed a number of men to find electors’ roll numbers before they entered the polling booth. Mr J. L. Stout, S.M., ruled to-day that the writing of these numbers on papers bearing the name ‘ ‘ Hodgens” was not a breach of the Electoral Act if the men did not stop voters. The case was against Victor Christen, sen, who was charged with, and pleaded not guilty to, interfering with electors with the intention of influencing their votes. Evidence was given that men, provided with copies of the electoral roll, were stationed near polling booths to find electors’ numbers. The men did not stop electors and merely found roll numbers for those who requested them to do so. The numbers were then written on a paper bearing the name of the candidate only at the top. Mr Stout, in delivering his judgment, said that evidence fell short of proving the interference mentioned in the Act. It was immaterial whether a voter received his roll number from a clerk wearing a candidate’s colours or on a paper bearing the candidate's name only. If the men had stopped voters there wculd probably be a different aspect on the case. The charge wae dismissed.