RIGHTS OF VOTERS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXIII, 13 October 1926, Page 9

RIGHTS OF VOTERS.

DEFINED BY LAW COURTS. fly Cable —Preii Association —Copyright Australia- "'ad N.Z. Cable Association MELBOURNE, October 12. The High Court gave an important decision in connection with compulsory voting at Parliamentary elections. E. J.' Judd was fined 10s for failing to vote. Judd appealed to the Supreme Court on the grounds that failure to vote, where only political opponents of an elector are candidates, was not an offence under the Electoral Act, and »f an elector was bound to vote for candidates who did not represent his views, the Act was ultra vires. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal. Judd then appealed to the High Court, which, by a majority or 4 to 1, upheld the conviction. Mr Justice Higgins, dissenting, held that in his opinion if an abstention of voting were part Of :\n ''lector’s leligious duty, as it appeared to the mind of Judd, that would establish a valid and sufficient reason for not voting. He disagreed entirely with the view that the Courts are to say what political opinion or social views are to be treated as reasonable.