TRIENNIAL PARLIAMENTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23364, 2 December 1937, Page 8

TRIENNIAL PARLIAMENTS

AMENDMENT BILL PASSED NEW PROCEDURE FOR MAORI ELECTIONS (From Our Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, Dec. 1. The Electoral Amendment Bill, providing for reversion to the threeyear parliamentary term and new procedure for voting in Maori electorates, was passed without amendment in the House of Representatives this afternoon. The debate in Committee, which was interrupted by the adjournment last evening, was continued for a very short time this afternoon. The main issue raised to-day was the advisability of a fairly elastic method of indicating a Maori voter’s intention. Mr J. G. Coates (Opposition, Kaipara) suggested that the majority of Maori voters would point to the name of the candidate for whom they wanted to vote and not those for whom they did not wish to vote. He claimed that, instead of the new procedure stipulating that the names of candidates not favoured must be struck out, the Maori ought to be allowed to indicate his preference by the use of a cross or tick. The Attorney-general (Mr H. G. R. Mason) recalled that even in the case of European voters a paper was not void if the intention of the voter was clearly indicated, even if the instructions had not been followed., It would be for the returning officer to decide what was the intention of the voter. It was the law at present that a voting paper was valid if it clearly indicated the intention of the voter, and that would naturally apply to the Maori voter as well as the European. Even if a tick

were used alongside the name of the candidate favoured, the paper would be valid. _ Mr C. H. Burnett (Govt., Tauranga) said that he had very many Maoris in his electorate, and he was glad to have the assurance of the Minister that the use of a mark alongside the name would be valid.