Federal Elections.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 24, 15 December 1919, Page 5

Federal Elections.

STATE OF THE PARTIES.

FIGURES STILL INCOMPLETE.

Press Association—Copyright

(Received 9.55 a.in.) Sydney, December Jo. The latest returns give the state ot •.he parties as follows: Nationalists 32. Labor 20. Farmers 1. Doubtful seats are—Nationalists 7, Labour 2, Farmers -1. Referendum on legislative powers; Yes, 187,573. No 210,807. On the monopolies question: Yes 107,192.. No 203,108..

SWEEPING CHANCES POSSIBLE.

NO PRESENT RELIABLE INOICA TION OF RESULTS.

ELECTIONS CONDUCTED QUIETLY.

Press Association—Copyright.

(Received 12.40 p.m.) Sydney, December 15,

Excepting where there are straightout fights for -the House -of Representatives, all the figures are still so incomplete that sweeping changes are possible. So far as the Senate ; and referen - dura votes are concerned, the present totals are mere modicum, and give no reliable indication.. It will be days before they are really settled to anything like finality, an’d a couple of weeks or more before the ■ result s ‘(•a’h be completely vkriown ■ : ' - ' •'Of Senate -seats to be ‘filled 1 at present* ten Nationalists and eight Lalioritics 'iield the leading positions, but in several cases others on the list are well within striking distance. ’■ '■ r '. : £.

For the House, Mr Ryan romped in .at West- Sydney, with a thumping majority.

Mr Hughes’ lead in Bendigo apparently puts the issue beyond. doubt. Mr Russell who i 6 the only Minister who; holds a seat in the Senate npjffebrs to be in a: bad way ; but three other Ministers (Webster, Glynn, and Foynton) have fair fighting chances, and) may recover later on. The ’ whole new system of voting worked apparently .-without serious difficulty so far as the House was concerned, but for the Senate, with longer lists of with, greater t; enced—probably (w good ibanyp votes: wore spoiled. Taking the bulk of the returns as they stand, whatever later returns may disclose, -they certainly to a considerable extent modify the Nationalists leaders’ predictions. There have been and will-be surprises, but the Labourites consider that on the whole their expectations have been largely justified. With a few exceptions, the polling everywhere passed off quietly. , , At Bendigo a prominent Nationalist supporter had to take refuge from the crowd.

Under the new voting system, a ( rood number of inter-State visitors were disfranchised owing to the erroneous belief that they could vote as absentees. This was not so.