DUNEDIN CENTRAL ELECTION.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume LXVIII, Issue 14203, 4 February 1915, Page 5

DUNEDIN CENTRAL ELECTION.

MR STATHAM LEADING

(By Telegraph—Press Association.) DUNEDIN, Wednesday.

A great deal of interest was taken in the Dunedin Central election to-day. Teh' weather was fine until late in the afternoon, when rain fell for a time. The total number of names on the ro 1 .! was 9415, and 7668 valid votes were cast, as against 7399 at the general election in December. Large crowds congregated in front of the newspaper offices, awaiting the results. It is now ascertained that the number of absent votes to come is 224, and the seamen's votes 35. The absent voters are scattered all over.the Dominion, and probably the result will be indefinite for a few days. The voting was as follows:— C. E. Statham (G) 3843 .1. W. Munro (O) 3825

Majority for Statham IS (In regard to the absentee votes it was admitted a few days ago by the Munro party that Mr Statham would secure most of the votes, as they had "counted heads" in this connection. If this is so, Mr Statham's election is assured. The official result, as given after the general election in December last, Avas as follows: —Munro 3799, Statham 3791, majority for Munro S. An official recount reversed the position and gave the figures as follows: — Statham 3744, Munro 3732. In the recount no fewer than 118 votes were invalidated through an error of one de-puty-returning officer, who marked the voters' numbers openly on the back of the voting papers, thus violating the secrecy of the ballot.)