THE CASTING VOTES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXII, Issue 19462, 23 November 1925, Page 6

THE CASTING VOTES

Discussion continues keen concerning the exercise of their easting votes by the returning officers in the Lyttelton and Westland electorates. AYe have already expressed the opinion that the returning officers might well have been guided by the precedent which governs the action of a chairman who is called upon to decide between opposing issues, and we are not inclined to recede from that position. The casting vote, it is said, belongs to the returning officer, and he is entitled to use it as he thinks fit. The same remark would apply to the chairman of a meeting, but it is not unusual for a chairman to use his deliberative vote in favour of one side and when called upon for a easting vote to give it against the opinion that he has himself expressed.

The returning officer, of course, does not exercise a vote at the ballot box, the easting vote being the only one he has. On that ground it is argued that he should use his casting vote as he would use his ordinary vote, if he had one. But why should a returning officer be permitted to withhold his vote until everyone else has voted? Returning officers are chosen because they are men of integrity, to whose hands the conduct of a delicate piece of work may be entrusted with safety; but to give them the power to decide an election after all the votes have been counted might be to expose them to very severe temptation. A casting vote might decide the fate of a Government, not merely that of a candidate, and in such a case the returning officer would carry a very heavy burden of responsibility. We do not suggest for a moment that there is any returning officer who has been affected by any sinister influence, but we certainly think that the law should not impose the burden which it seems to impose upon those who have to count votes. It would be better for the law to say definitely that in the event of a tie occurring between a retiring member and another candidate the former should be declared elected—a tie in a cup or shield match at cricket or football means that the holder of the trophy retains it—or if there is no retiring member the issue should be decided by lot. This would be the solution of the personal problem.

Another suggestion that is worthy of consideration has been made by the Hon. A. D. McLeod. This is that each returning officer should record his vote on the morning of election day and send it under seal to the chief electoral officer. In the event of a tie that officer would use the vote and so reach a decision. Perhaps that would be the best way to overcome the difficulty which the present law undoubtedly tends to create.