COUNCIL CANDIDATE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22896, 26 November 1937, Page 12

COUNCIL CANDIDATE

NOMINATION BY ATTORNEY DOUBT AS TO VALIDITY DIFFICULTY AT MANUREWA An unusual situation, which is stated to be probably without precedent in Dominion local body affairs, has developed regarding the nomination of candidates for the election of a council for the recently-constituted borough of Manurewa. Nominations for the offices of Mayor and eight councillors closed at noon yesterday, but in view of the legal difficulties arising over one nomination the returning officer, Mr. H. Kay, has withheld posting the names of i he nominees. Well within the prescribed time the returning officer received a nomination bearing the candidate's acceptance under power of attorney. Doubt was expressed as to the validity of the procedure, as section 8 of the Local Elections and Polls Act, 1925, prescribes that the form shall bear the signature of the person nominated. Sir. Kay was advised that the candidate, who is at present in Australia and due to return to the Dominion at an early date, has cabled acceptance of nomination to his attorney, who completed the nomination form under these instructions, and his powers. No information as to precedent being available, the legal advice of the Municipal Association was sought. A reply stated that direct acceptance by radio from the ship on which the candidate was understood to by travelling would validate the nomination and that the attachment to the form of the cabled advice to the solicitor might be admissible, although doubt was entertained on this point. Telegraphic communication with the Department of internal Affairs was also fruitless, the reply merely stating that the returning officer should be guided bv the opinion of his legal adviser. The returning officer was unable to take action as suggested by the Municipal Association and the department, as the whereabouts of the candidate were not known and the local body's legal adviser was absent from town. Under the circumstances the officer decided to defer a decision until today, when a legal opinion will be available.