THE HOURS OF POLLING.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 15788, 9 April 1919, Page 4

THE HOURS OF POLLING.

It will have been observed that the official notifications cf the especial licensing poll to-morrow contained no intimation as to tlie hours within which the poll is to be taken. This will not have been accidental on the part of the Returning Officers. The notifications were doubtless expressed in the terms prescribed in a skeleton form supplied by the Electoral Department. But the omission of any intimation respecting the hours of polling may be, and, wo fear, already has been the cause of some misapprehension. The statement lias been published, <pi tire authority of an experienced Returning Officer, that the poll will bo held, both in town and country, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. It is suggested that this statement is not justified by the law on the subject, and we learn that it does not harmonise with the instructions which have been issued to Returning Officers in country electorates. The law seems to be quite plain on the point. The poll is to be taken “in the manner provided in the Legislature Act, 1908, for taking the electoral poll under that Act.” And tire provision in the Legislature Act is that the electoral poll shall commence at 9 a.m. and shall, unless lawfully adjourned, finally close at 6 p.m., except in certain specified electorates, in which the poll shall close at 7 p.m. Tho Wanganui electorate comes within tho scope of this exception, the poll therefore closing in this electorate at 7 p.m. The polls in the adjoining country electorates Patea, Eangitikci, Waimarino, etc., of which the Counties of Wanganui and Waitotara form a part—will close at G p.m. Aramoho and other suburban electors who are on tho rolls of the country electorates should therefore be particularly careful not to act on the assumption that their polling booths will close at 7, and should see that they register their votes before 6 o’clock, otherwise they will lose the opportunity of voting at ail.

To-morrow night is going to bo a very busy time with the telephones, and wo now appeal to our numerous readers to on no account ring up the “Herald” asking for results of. the' poll. We will hail with pleasure rings from the country giving booth results, but wo wish it to be understood that the “Herald” ’phones will be well in the firing line, receiving results from all parts of the country. We do not wish our news receiving service to be interrupted by some inquisitive person asking for results, when he or she might take a jaunt down town and See the figures as they are screened out-, side His Majesty’s Theatre by the “Heraid’ Company. In this particular case a wink is as good as a nod. The Law of Success is operating wonderfully in favour of “No Rubbing” Laundry Help and the pure “Golden Rule” Soap. Levin and Co., Ltd., Wholesale Agents for “No Rubbing” and “Golden Rule.”