THE LICENSING POLL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17101, 5 March 1919, Page 6

THE LICENSING POLL.

ROLLS CLOSE TO-MORROW.

HEAVY ENROLLING RECORDED

All rolls for the special licensing poll to be held on April 10 close at 6 p.m. to-morrow. The electoral bureau at the Government Buildings, Customs Street, will be. kept open until the closing hour, and all claims, personal and by post; must reach the office- before -six. o'clock..

There is at present every indication that the" numbers of names on ..the rolls, this year will constitute a'record. Although the main rolls closed some' time'ago,-the work of preparation of' the l supplementary, .rolls has. been., no small-task, and it is anticipated that in . almost every case these will contain about half as many names as the principal rolls. , As there has been no election for five years, the work of preparing the rolls has been most arduous.. Since the opening of the Central Electoral Bureau the staff has been busily engaged rectifying errors in addresses, and attending to fresh applications for enrolment. '. The work has been made unnecessarily heavier by the apparently indiscriminate lodging of objections against certain electors. The officer in charge of the bureau, Mr. J. Hay, stated yesterday that time after time these objections had been found to be absolutely unfounded. Although a \ period of about five weeks will elapse between the closing date and the date of the poll, the time will be fully occupied with the work of issuing absent voters' permits, seamen's and electoral rights. The roll has also to be printed and corrected by deputy returning officers. In'the cases where officers live in remote districts it takes some time before these arrangements can bo completed in readii ness for the poll. '