Duty at the Polls

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 509, 12 November 1928, Page 1

Duty at the Polls

FINAL ADVICE TO ELECTORS

Voting Task is Simple

VOTING probably will be heavy at Wednesday’s General Election poll. Unusual interest has been displayed in the hustings campaign, and the compulsory registration of electors has swelled the rolls to the highest figure yet. Voting itself is a task of elementary simplicity, but many people require a final word of advice upon procedure before they visit the booths in the particular districts.

Perhaps the soundest and most important advice that could be given to electors at this, the eleventh, hour is to recognise the desirability of voting. People in New Zealand are not compelled to vote, although they are forced to register their names on the rolls. It is expected, however, that in the interests of Government —whether it turns out to be good or bad —the voice of the people should be reflected in the House of Parliament. Suburban voters must visit a booth tu their own electorate. Many believe that they slip out from the office (luring the morning and vote in any part of the city. But if they are within reach of their own electorate they must vote there. It is pointed out by Mr. Frank Evans, registrar of electors at Auckland, that (in absent voter may vote at any polling place upon satisfying the deputyreturning officer that he will not be able to return to his own electoral district before the poll closes at 7 P.m., and upon making a declaration that he is entitled to vote as a regislered elector of such district, and is not qualified to be enrolled in any ether electorate. An absent votter’s Permit is not required, the permit system having been abolished before 'he last General Election. The correct electoral district must be stated in the declaration, otherwise the vote will be disallowed. SEAMEN’S VOTES The provisions of the Electoral Act relating to absent voters and to electors who require to vote under the new Postal voting system do not apply to seamen who, if registered as electors, may obtain a seaman’s elector’s right ,0 enable them to record their votes in ■mv part of New Zealand at. any time between the issue of the writ and election day. A seaman who votes in his own electoral district on the day of the pell may do so without an elector’s right, but it one has been issued to him “ e must first surrender it to the de-puty-returning officer. AH polling booths appointed for an e^ ec t°ral district are situated within the boundaries of that district. Owing to the change of bound*r'e* aince the last General Election, electors should make sure that they enter a booth which is within their electorate and not 'n an adjoining electorate. IN WRONG BOOTH If they go into a wrong booth they >ll. of course, be informed that their jjmies are not on the roll, and in this ’ ase if they wrongfully make a ■ -ritdeclaration and vote, their votes m be disallowed when the declaruona are subsequently inquired into Pon being registered all electors re--eived an acknowledgment card bear°z the name of their electoral disIc t, and electors affected by the alI electoral boundaries were notiof the name of their new ectorate. They are therefore ex"fcted to know the name of the , e< : tora l district in which they are ;, si ? tere d. L'pon being informed at e booth that they are not on the roll, ■ip? 3 ' s * lou ld state the electorate they j*“ on S to. If they are in the wrong oth the mistake would then be disc°vered. VOTES BY DECLARATION acTsi. blowing classes of persons. registered as electors of any 4

district may, on making a declaration in the prescribed form that they are qualified to be registered, vote as electors of the district in which they are resident, namely: (a) Any person whose name is ruled out on any certified copy of the roll: or (b) any person who having applied for registration as an elector at any time before 6 o’clock in the afternoon of the day of the issue of the writ (October 19). and having been informed by the registrar that he has been registered, has not been so registered. The penalty for a false declaration is £SO. The voter must not write his name on the ballot paper, as is sometimes done in ignorance, for any writing or mark on it which is calculated to identify the elector will render the vote invalid. In some Auckland districts, the altered boundaries have carried people from a no-licence district into a licenced area. These people are essentially voters in the licensed district, and have not the right to vote for restoration as they would had the boundaries remained unaltered. Similarly many people have been transferred from licensed districts into “dry” localities. They may vote for or against restoration as on the general Prohibition issue.