MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume IV, Issue 963, 13 March 1917, Page 2

MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.

PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION. A publicity campaign to instruct the electors of Christchurch in the use of the proportional representation system of voting, which is to come into operation at the coming municipal ejections in the city, was under discussion at the council's meeting last evening. Cr \V. H. Cooper raised the subject by expressing the opinion that the council should take an opportunity of coaching the public, on the proportional representation system. A certain section of the community, he said, was educating its people up to the new idea, and he thought it would be a good thing if the council authorised the Town Clerk to spend a certain sum of money in the newspapers in this matter. Cr 1). G; Sullivan said that any difficulty which arose in connection with proportional representation did not affect the voter. Voting was (mite simple. All that the elector had to do was to indicate his order of preference of the candidates. The only person who had any difficulty was the person who had to count the votes, but the votes would be counted by persons who had studied the subject. Cr J. McCombs said that the British Proportional Representation Society was watching the Christchurch elections very closely, and the secretary of that society was writing articles, for publication in the newspapers, explaining very simply what was required of the voter. Under this system it would not pay to plump. It would pay the voter to indicate his full order of preference, lie must indicate his order of preference for at least three candidates. The elector had a single transferable vole, and if his first preference was elected without his aid his vote went to his second or third or fourth preference, and so on. Cr Taylor thought the council should not leave any stone unturned to give the electors a fair run and it might very well spend a little money in educating the electors. Hut he wanted lo impress upon them that it was really a simple matter so far as the elector was concerned. What might happen, however, it the people were not educated in the matter was slowness of voting. 1! was decided that the Town Clerk and Crs McCombs and Taylor should be .a special committee to bring down a recommendation on the subject lo next meeting.