CHECKING VOTES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23036, 13 May 1938, Page 11

CHECKING VOTES

AUCKLAND MAYORALTY f ■ of totals f the third candidate toss OF DEPOSIT possible. The official counting of the votes cast jni the municipal elections in the c ityi was started yesterday morning at the Town Hall, where a staff of approximately 100 men has been asby the city returning officer, jlr. P. F. Notley. One section of the staff was started on the checking of the rolls used in the election for the pur- - rise of establishing whether plural voting bad taken place. Simultaneously a commencement was made with the counting of tho votes cast for the three mayoral candidates, ill the votes recorded at the polling places were counted, showing that the total of the Mayor, Sir Ernest Davis, had been increased by 58 to 26,149, while that of his principal opponent, Jlr. J. Sayegh, the Labour candidate, had been advanced by 207 to 15,672. This reduced the Mayor's majority on the provisional count by 149 to 10,477. It is still necessary for the declaration votes to be counted and until .this has been done the final figure cannot be announced. The total votes polled by Mr. J. W. Payne, the other candidate for the Mayoralty, has been reduced from 579 to 569. On this result he will forfeit his deposit of £lO. To avoid forfeiture it is t-ccessary for a candidate to poll more than one-eighth of the votes gained by the successful candidate. On the present figures none of the unsuccessful candidates for the City Council was within 300 votes of losing his deposit. The major task of counting the votes cast for the 52 candidates for the City Council has already been commenced, but it is certain that the final figures will not be available before noon tomorrow. The counting in the contest for the city seats on the Auckland Hospital Board and the Auckland Harbour Board will then be commenced. Some idea of the magnitude of the task involved in the counting of the rotes, both on the night of the election and at the offioiui check, can be gained from the fact that the votes recorded on the four city issues totalled 1,144,456. This was mure than 10,000 in excess of the igure at the 1935 election, but on that occasion the votes included those cast in the Auckland Transport Board election, which was held on the same day.

WELLINGTON VOTING MAYOR'S LONG SERVICE * * SEATS LOST BY LABOUR DEFEAT OF MR. J. ROBERTS [BT TELIEGBAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION] WELLINGTON, Thursday Although a record vote was cast in Wellington yesterday, the total vote in the. Mayoral contest being over 42,000, the figure was still below what had been anticipated, considering the keen work of both parties to ensure that their supporters recorded their votes and the very much larger roll than in 1935. The day was fine apd pleasant, whereas polling day in 1935, when 40,000 votes were recorded, was cold *nd miserable. By a margin of 6088 votes Mr. T. 0. A. Hislop has been re-elected Mayor -of Wellington and enters on his fourth term of office, which will by 1941 exover 10 years, a record period of inrvice for Wellington, and possibly for New Zealand. The poll for the City Council resulted in the return of nine Citizens' ticket candidates' and six Labour members. The Citizens' ticket representation thus increased by one. Nine sitting members of the Wellington Hospital Board were returned. Of the 13 seats Labour secured seven ■—the same as on the old board —and the Citizens' ticket six.

Labour apd'Citizens' candidates have «10al strength in the city representation on the Wellington Harbour N6w members are Sir Charles Norwood and Mr. W. Appleton, both Citizens' candidates. Messrs. R. McKeen and C. H. Chapman (L.) reamed their seats. At the last election Labour won all four seats. Among those defeated is Mr. J. Roberts, optional president of the Labour Party. Citizens' candidates, Messrs. G. *°ndon apd J. W. Andrews, are representatives of the combined suburban districts. The Labour Mayor of Petone, Mr. .Scholefield, was defeated by the citizens' candidate, Mr. G. London, comes from a pioneer family of the district. He is only 33 years of Citizens' candidates won six of Jf>e nine seats on the Petone Borough urancil. The Citizens' ticket had a victory at Lower Hutt, where the sitting Mayor, M r . J. W. Andrews, defeated Sjf-Labour opponent, Mr. P. Dowse, ino Citizens' ticket won six of the nine Wats on the Borough Council. In yPper Hutt Mr. P. Robertson (I'-> w*® ft ted the sitting Mayor, Mr. A. Jdid '^^ iere were other canIndividual returns show that the JJteran politician, Mr. R. A. Wright, if*' topped the City Council fi°ll with 23,198 votes. Two other Par"amentarians. Mr. McKeen and Mr. Vhnnmn (both Labour) were next, I Y I 23,170 and 21.973 respectively. A new member. Mrs. Knox Gilmer M, topped 'the Hospital Board poll to \ Then came: —F. Castle Piv ' Mis?- Amy Kano (C.) • 21.991. .^' ol ?fcn candiflntes (two Citizens Bo«r>;+ r ? e were elected to the JSfi® 1 Board. Mr. McKeen <L ; ) the Harbour Board poll with « 'tao votes