VOTING METHODS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20282, 17 April 1934, Page 6

VOTING METHODS.

Probable Change in City Election. SPECIAL LEGISLATION. The Christchurch City Council is expected at an early date to revert to the “ first-past-the-post ” system for its elections. next step will be consideration of the question of taking action with a view to providing for the positive instead of the negative method of voting, which is likely to come up for consideration. The City Council is the only municipal authority at present in existence that has adopted the proportional system of election, and though a number of people have complained . that it causes confusion, actual experience has proved that it does not produce as large a percentage of informal votes as the “ first-past-the-post ” system with a negative method of voting. The last occasion on which the election was conducted on the “ first-past-the-post ” system with the whole of the citv as one electorate was in 1927, when the informal votes reached the very high percentage of 17.7 in a total poll of 28,149 votes. On that occasion the voting was by the negative method of striking out the names of unwanted candidates, and a large number of voters invalidated their voting papers by failing to strike out sufficient names. At the previous election, in 1925, the “ first-past-the-post ” system was also adopted, but the voter was allowed to indicate his choices by the positive method of placing an X against the name of each candidate he desired to see elected. A total of 22,915 votes were cast in 1925, and only 2 per cent were informal. Positive Method Favoured. Though the Municipal Corporations Act now provides for the negative method of voting where the “ first-past-the-post ” system is adopted, there is strong support for the method of marking the paper with an X against the name of each candidate for whom the elector wishes to vote. The Auckland City Council and the Wellington City Council have both secured the passage of special legislation providing for the postive method of voting at their elections, and the Mayor of Christchurch (Mr D. G. Sullivan, M.P ) stated yesterday that in the event of the City Council reverting to the “ first-past-the-post ” system he would suggest that similar special legislation be promoted for Christchurch.