The Marlborough Press. THURSDAY EVENING, NOV. 16, 1882.

Marlborough Press, Volume XXIII, Issue 1359, 16 November 1882, Page 2

The Marlborough Press. THURSDAY EVENING, NOV. 16, 1882.

A question has been raised as to the legality of the proceedings in connection with the election of a Mayor for Picton on Wednesday last. While giving an expression of opinion as to the merits of the question, we will state what the law says shall be done in such cases, and leave it to those interested to answer whether the law has been carried out. Under the Regulations of Local Elections Act, 1876, the Act under which the Mayoral election should take place, it is incumbent upon local bodies to appoint a Returning Officer who has power to appoint a deputy, and when this is legally done, all matters transacted by such deputy are as legal as if performed by the Returning Officer appointed by local bodies. The clause in the Act relating to this matter runs as follows : “ Every election shall be held by the Returning Officer, but if he is unable from any cause to fulfil the duties of his office at any election he shall by writing under his hand appoint a substitute, who shall for all purposes in respect of such election be deemed to be the Returning Officer.” In the clause prior to that quoted it is enacted that the Returning Officer appointed by the local body shall hold office until he resign, is removed, or dies, in any of which cases the local body shall appoint a Returning Officer in his stead. The late Mr J. Green was Returning Officer for the Borough of Picton, and on Wednesday the day of nomination he was making preparations to attend at the place appointed for the receipt of nominations when he died suddenly about an hour before the time nominations could be sent in. The fact of Mr Green being about to attend the office appears to negative any idea that he bad appointed a substitute to act for him in the manner required by law ; and if this assumption be correct it is a question whether any election could be held. It is distinctly laid down that, “ If the number of candidates does not exceed the number of vacancies to be filled, the Returning Officer shall at the place and on the day so appointed, publicly declare such candidate or candidates to be duly elected to the office or offices to be filled at the election then being held.” We are informed that Mr Swanwick was declared duly elected as there was no opposition. By whom was the declaration made 1 If by Mr Green’s substitute, he must have been appointed by writing under the hand of the Returning Officer otherwise the law is not fulfilled. It is nob alone necessary that a substitute shall be appointed in writing, but there is another equally important proviso that must be complied with to make the proceedings legal. Clause 8 of the quoted Act states that “Every Returning Officer and every substitute for a Returning Officer shall, before entering on the duties of his office, make and sign before a Justice of the Peace or before the Chairman of the local body the declaration set forth in the First Schedule ” (to this Act.) From this it will be seen that several things are necessary to be done by any person acting as Returning Officer to make elections legal, and in the event of failure in any particular, it follows that a question of legality can be raised as it has in this instance. It is possible that everything necessary has been done in this case ; that the substitute Returning Officer was duly appointed in writing, and that he made the necessary declaration before receiving and opening the nomination paper sent in by Mr Swanwick. Should, however, the strictly legal course not have been followed, the declared election will not only be void, but the person who opened the papers and declared Mr Swanwick duly elected will have brought himself within the power of clause 44 of the same Act, which provides that any person acting as substitute for a Beturning Officer who is guilty of any act contrary to the provisions of the said Act shall be liable to a penalty of not more than fifty pounds. Thus far we have endeavoured to show the effect of any omission or commission on the part of a Returning Officer or his substitute ; but the evil does not end here, for should any person who has been declared duly elected by a Returning Officer not properly qualified to fill the position take his seat at the Council, such member may be liable to a fine of £SO for every time he takes his seat, and such penalty mav be recovered with costs of suit in Court by any person who chooses to bring an action. The election of Mayor on Wednesday appears to us to be null and void for the reasons we have given, and the only way we can seen of avoiding further complications is to proceed to a fresh election as in the case of an extraordinary vacancy.