The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1918. THE ELECTORAL LAWS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVII, Issue 46, 19 September 1918, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1918. THE ELECTORAL LAWS.

The recent proceedings in connection with the Grey election seem to indicate that amendment of our electoral law is desirable, It is manifestly repugnant to the principle of, one man one vote, based on residential qualification, that persons who have ceased to reside in .a certain electorate and have remained absent therefrom for six months or more, should be allowed a vote in elections in that electorate. The law as it stands opens the'way to wholesale manipulation of the voting strength of any party, especially at by-elections, for a man who is registered in one electorate may remove to another electorate and permanently settle there but still return to the first electorate and record his vote there, even after six months' residence in the electorate to which he has removed, varied only by occasional visits to the electorate in which he is registered!. It seems very much as if our legislators in their desire to ensure that every man should be able to record his vote in any circumstances have unwittingly supplied a means of abusing the electoral privilege. One method of ■minimising the abuse would be to keep the rolls purged by some really efficient system, under 'which persons properly qualified to vote would be guaranteed an opportunity of voting. If the rolls are to bo kept in a proper state it would be necessary to provide machinery to specially f guard against unqualified persons being placed on the roll and against properly qualified persons being wrongfully removed from the roll. The method of purging, under which only the names of persons who vote at an election are retained after the election is over, should be replaced by a system under which the rolls would be brought up to date every three months. Some such system as that obtaining in Victoria might be adopted. In Victoria Electoral Revision Courts are held every quarter, the chief officer of the Court being a Stipendiary Magistrate, the other officers being the Electoral Registrar and the Electoral Inspector for tlie electorate. The Magistrate'may act as Returning Officer at elections, but he can only remove from or add names to the rolls in open Court. Persons desirous of becoming enrolled make application to the Registrar, who enters their names on a provisional roll which is checked from time to time by the Electoral Inspector, and if the latter, after inquiry, has reason to believe that an applicant is not qualified for enrolment he sends him a notice of objection, calling on him to appears as the Electoral Revision Court to substantiate his claim. The Electoral Registrar, who almost invariably is also the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages, checks the roll when the death of an adult is registered, and the postmasters in the district also notify him of such removals from the district as come under their notice in connection with changes of address. The attention of the Electoral Inspector is drawn to such deaths and removals, and in those cases, also, notice of objection isi posted-to the last address of the person concerned. Prior to the sitting, of the Court the names of persona who have applied for enrolment and of those against whom objections are being lodged are advertised in the usual way, but it is only necessary for such claimants or voters who have been notified that their right is M<I pitted to attend the Court, V hen

—a.- i i' as i ..j. ' b =i=s^r*the Court meets the Magistrate reI ceives the provisional roll and the list of objections and orders additions or removals to be made to or from the •main roll. In the event of a byelection taking place between the usual quarterly sittings of the Court a special sitting is held a month before the election takes place, and, the main roll being already in existence, all that is necessary is to issue a supplementary roll. A system of tins I kind ensures the preservation of the rights of the properly qualified voter, and minimises abuses by removing from the roll the names of deceased persons and absentees, in whose names votes are not infrequently polled by unscruplous persons. Tt is worthy of note, that when the Australian Commonwealth Government introduced its own electoral system, which did not include the safeguards provided in the Victorian system, there was a noticeable increase in the impersonation of electors at the polls, and an extraordinary number of dead persons had their names retained on the rolls.