ELECTORAL REFORM.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVII, Issue 26, 31 January 1913, Page 4

ELECTORAL REFORM.

« It was a decidedly happy thought of the Hon. Mr Fisher, the Minister in charge of the Electoral Department, to send Mr Mansfield, the Chief Electoral Officer, to study the working; of the proportional system of voting as it was in operation at the recent Tasmanian elections. In course of time not only will the Legislative Council of the" Dominion under Mr Bell's Bill (to be revived next session) be elected under the proportional system, but the same system will apply to the election of Members of the House of Representatives. The existing system is antiquated, and responsible for the most glaring anomalies, whereas under the proportional system, although in certain of its details it may be somewhat difficult to work out, a much more accurate and satisfactory registration of the opinion and will of the people will be obtained. Mr Mansfield will have been able to see where are the weak points, if any, of the system, and we are confident that his report, will disclose the fact that the electors have had no more difficulty in understanding the proportional system than they had with the old system, still in force in the Dominion.