RE FUTURE LOCAL OPTION POLLS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXI, Issue 6695, 22 September 1896, Page 3

RE FUTURE LOCAL OPTION POLLS.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,— Many, I find, are of opinion that to carry a " No License " vote at the next local option poll, a three-fifths majority of those who vote will not be sufficient unless half the number on the roll have voted. .Kindly give your readers, in your columns, what is the face in this matter, that the uneasiness of many may be removed and yours trnly be enlightened. I am, etc.. Prohibitionist. [The provision requiring one-half of the electors on the roll to vote to make a local option poll effective does not apply where the election of a member of the House of Representatives is contested. The two polls being taken simultaneously and at the same polling booths, the law presumes that an elector who does not .vote on the licensing question voluntarily surrenders his right. It also takes the common sense view that a contested election ensures no less that half the electors coming to the poll. Where, however, no poll for the election of a representative is required and a special poll for licensing purposes becomes necessary, then the Act declares that the poll shall not be valid unless at least one-h3lf of the electors on the roll record their votes. —Ed. O.M.]