ELECTORAL CENSUS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXIX, Issue 102, 20 June 1911, Page 8

ELECTORAL CENSUS.

Bill AGING THE ROLL I P 'l*o DATE. The Government has two tasks ,iu preparation Tor the general electionone is the readjustment of electoral oounclaries, and the other is the compilation ol electoral rolls. The readjustment, which will be done on a population basis, is determined by the April census, and the enrolling oi eligible voters will be done by a special census next month. The count w ill bo iakon in the cities, on the !)th July, and in country districts on 10th July. Householders’ schedules will be discributed in the cities, but in the country the enumerators will roly on held hooks. 1 Ins census is being taken in virtue ol powers conferred on the Government by the Legislative Amendment Act of last session. At first it was proposed to take the, electoral census in conjunction with the main census, but it was finally agreed that the ordinary census work would ho complicated enough without the other count. The electoral census does not include merely the names of prospective voters resident in particular Houses at the time of the canvassers’ visit. The lists arc to include the names of temporarily absent persons, who will ho entitled to vote in the district in question. Another obstacle to the simultaneous countings was that April was too remote for electoral enrolment purposes from the probable date of the next general elections. In recent years an endeavour /has been made to keep the rolls up to date by the use of a card system, under which tno movements of electors from one district to another have been noted. This year the taking of the general census lias added to the work of the Registrar-General’s office, and altogether it was believed to ho advisable to have a special census for enrolment. During last session there were many complaints in Parliament about the condition of the roll.