THE COLONIST. Published Every Morning. Monday, November 23, 1908. THE FINAL BALLOT.

Colonist, Volume LI, Issue 12406, 23 November 1908, Page 2

THE COLONIST. Published Every Morning. Monday, November 23, 1908. THE FINAL BALLOT.

itnE second ballot to decide the representation of this electorate in the next Parliament will take place tomorrow, although no official intimation of the fact can by then have reached the people in the outlying districts. The only notice the Returning Officer has been able to give, and that not strictly in conformity with the .second schedule of the Second Ballot Act, appears in another column of this issue. 1 The election for the Nelson seat will take ■place under conditions which surely never distinguished any poll taken at any previous time in New Zealand,- though there are one or two electorates besides Nelson in tho same position on this occasion. As to what will be the legal position in respect to the election here, which ever way it results, is for the legal mind to determine. The Second Ballot Act provides that the Returning Officer shall, give notice, in ' his de- j claration of the result of the first ballot, of the necessity, if such exists, for the second, and the date on which it takes place, together with all information as in the intimation of the ballot in the first instance. The last opportunity of the-'Nelson Returning Officer to give such warning and information to a large area of the electorate vanished with the Sounds mail on Friday, and such of the electors of that part of the district "as present themselves at the polling booths to vote will do so upon notice conveyed to, them through unofficial channels This serious defect in an Act, which in ' its entirety is a grave blunder," arises from the shortsightedness which led to Nelson being placed in Ilie schedule of electorates where the second ballots must take place within seven days from the close of the first poll. Nine electorates are given an interval of fourteen days between the ballots, owing to their scattered population and difficulty of access, and in this schedule past, experience of delays in the receipt of ballot boxes from outlying booths should have secured the inclusion of Nelson. On other grounds than this the seven clays' limit is objectionable. Absent voters' and seamen's rights, may bo availed of in any electorate in which the holder may chance to be on the day of the election, and whether - these voters exercise their privilege at the Bluff or on the Great Barrier Island, the Returning Officer of the electorate of origin must await the return of the papers before he can declare the result of .the poll. In the instance of Nelson on the present occasion, the Returning Officer is on this, the day before that on which the second ballot must be held, still awaiting the arrival of thirty-six ballot papers used- in different electorates, so that his declaration, besides being so belated as to be practically useless in a large proportion of the electorate, is also incomplete. On this occasion, however, we have to accept the Second Ballot Act as it stands, and make the best of it, in the conviction that never again will such a bar- ' rier be imposed in. the way of an effective and expeditious selection by tho electors of their Parliamentary representatives. Including Nelson, twenty-two second ballots will be taken to-morrow, and in most cases with the elimination of the unplaced candidates, and the almost general combination of their supporters in favour of one or other of those who will go to the poll, it is easier to predict results than ii was to anticipate the people's will on the 17th. In this electorate last week the poll was not heavy, and taking into account those who failed to vote, the supporters of the third candidate, and those who cast informal votes, there are, roughly speaking, about two thousand votes to be divided between Messrs Graham and Atmorej that is, of course, provided every elector votes, which, however, is not likely to be the case. The election may be considered, to depend upon the organisation of -the candidates. The election in which the interest of the Dominion will chiefly centre is that for Gisborne, where the Hon. Mr Carroll goes to the poll against Mr Darton, the Independent candidate, who' secures a large accession of support from the ranks of the followers of tho candidates who were disposed of at the first ballot. <fhis makes the Native Minister's chances doubtful. Mr McDonald (Government) appears to have the best prospect's for the Bay of Plenty, while for Egmont Mr Wake (Independent) may succeed in, defeating Mr Dive (Opposition). It seems fairly certain • that Mr Hogan .will continue to represent Wanganui, and the Government should carry also the Palmerston North and t\y.o of the Wellington seate. Wellington East should poll a majority for Mr Atkinson. Mr Ross (Government) cannot fail to win at Pahiatua, with 500 votes' to draw upon, and Mr Tanner should -.be able to retain the Avon ' seat against Mr G. W. Russell.* On paper, Mr Dillon should defeat Sir William Russell for Hawke's Bay without much difficulty. Geraldine, Ashburtbri, and Timaru are expected to return the Government candidates, while Mr Barclay ma j almost be"" regarded as a certainty for Dunedin Norbh. Mr Macpherson is expected to -: bo re--turned for Tuapeka, and the chances for Manawatu; are about even between Mi-'Buick and Mr Stevens, Opposition and Government candidates respectively. Mr rForbes (Govern- ■- " : - "'- v : . ; - ■' ' ■■ '- ; '- ::; : '-"'"••""• ■'•■' -'■'•*

nicnt) is regarded as a certainty for Hurunui. As has been stated, however, everything depends upon the readiness of the electors to go to the poll, and tho organisation of the supporters of the various candidates.Such a contingency as \uifavorable weather might easily upset all calculations, however safe they appear with last . week's polling as their basis, and permit the return of candidates who polled but a small minority of the votes represented on the rolls, the result the Second Ballot Act was designed to avoid.