LEGISLATURE AMENDMENT BILL.

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1923 Session I-II, H-39

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Session 11. 1923. NEW ZEALAND.

LEGISLATURE AMENDMENT BILL.

Laid on the Table of the House of Representatives by Leave.

ANALYSIS. Title. PART 111. 1. Short Title. Proportional Representation. Compulsory Registration of Electors. 2 <5- Proportional representation in certain urban _ _, , , . ~ ~. districts. Constitution of electoral divisions 2. Compulsory registration of electors. for ( . B o{ p ro|)ol . t i oni _i representation. 3. Penalty for failure to register 26 _ Alteration o{ ( .l ectora l divisions by Repre4. Changes of address to be notified. sentation Commissions. ■5. Elector not disqualified tor failure to notify ._r, Representation of electoral divisions. change of address 2g Returning offiocr for each e lectt.ral division. 6. Temporary absence from district not a dis- 2Q Elpctora ] and subdivisional rolls. - is, q^ 11li _ oatlon - .„,.,,, f 30. Mode of marking ballot-paper. 7. Notification of death of registered elector. g F Q _ ballot ° a _£. £ ro]) ,,,. U onal le pre8. Notification of marriages for purpose ol sentation. amending rolls. 9. Preparation of new rolls. 10. Abolition of existing rolls. Preliminary Count of (lie Voles. PART II Counterfoils and marked rolls to be scaled up. „ * Number of first-preference votes counted. Preferential Voting. ~., Informal vot( . K . 11. This Part not apphoable to genoral elections m ;(4. R esu lt of voting to be announced. oertain urban districts. 35. Deputies to make up books and papers in 12. Preferontial-voting system to apply to future parcels. elections. 13. Mode of marking ballot-papor. Official Count of the Votes and Declaration of Poll. 14. Form of ballot-paper for preferential voting. 36 offi(jial „ ount of yoU^ Preliminary Count of the Votes. 37. Count may be adjourned. ,_ „ ... , , _ „ , , , , 38. Declaration of result of pi .11. 15. Counterfoils and markod rolls to bo sealed up. * Numbor of first-preference votes counted. 16. Informal votes. PART IV. 17. Result of voting to be announced.. Miscellaneous. 18. Deputies to make up books and papors in „_ . . parcels. 9 - Section 40 of principal Act amended. ' 40. Seotion 52 of Amendment Act, 1910, amended. Official Count of the Votes and Declaration of Poll. 41 Absent voters. 19. Official count of- the votes. 42. Certain persons entitled to vote on making 20. Declaration of the poll where absolute majority declaration as to qualifications. Conseobtained. quential repeal. 21. Provisions to apply where absoluto majority 43. Residential qualifications of electors. Consenot obtained. quential repeal. 22. Subsequent dealings with ballot-papers. 44. Section 110 of principal Act amended. 23. Count may be adjourned. 45. Repeals. 24. Declaration of result of poll. Schedules. A BILL INTITULED An Act to amend the Legislature Act, 1908. Title. BE IT ENACTED by the General Assembly of New Zealand in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows :— 1. This Act may be cited as the Legislature Amendment Act. short Title. 192.3, and shall be read together with and deemed part of the Legis lature Act, 1908 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act).

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PART I. Compulsory Registration of Electors. 2. Save as otherwise provided in this Act, every person qualified to be registered as an elector for any district (whether or not he is registered as an elector at the commencement of this Act) shall forthwith after the commencement, of this Act, or after he first becomes qualified to be registered as an elector, make application in the prescribed form to the Registrar of the district for registration as an elector of that district. 3. (1.) Every person qualified to be registered as an elector for any district who fails for four months after the commencement of this Act, or after the date on which he thereafter becomes qualified to be registered as an elector for that district, to become so registered shall be guilty of an offence unless he proves that he duly applied for registration, or that his failure to apply for registration was not due to wilful default. (2.) Every such offence shall be a continuing offence until application for registration has been duly made. (3.) Every person who commits an offence against this section shall be liable to a fine of five shillings on|a first conviction and to a fine of twenty shillings on any subsequent conviction. 4. (1.) Every registered elector who, while remaining resident within an electoral district, changes his place of residence within that district, and who has failed for two months to notify the Registrar of his new address, commits an offence which shall be a continuing offence while such default continues. (2.) Every person who commits an offence against this section shall be liable to a fine oifive shillings on a first conviction, and to a fine of twenty shillings on any subsequent conviction. 5. A registered elector who has changed his residence within the district as aforesaid shall not be disqualified from voting at an election for that district, notwithsta-nding that he has not given notice of such change of address as hereinbefore required. 6. (1.) A person who is registered as an elector of any district shall not be deemed to have forfeited his qualification for registration as an elector of that district by reason of absence therefrom unless he becomes registered in another district or is qualified to become so registered. (2.) It shall be the duty of every registered elector who may be temporarily absent from the district for a period of not less than three months to give notice of his absence to the Registrar before the expiry of the said period. 7. Every Registrar of Births and Deaths shall forthwith after the registration of the death of any adult person notify the Registrar of Electors of the district in which the deceased person resided of the fact of the death, together with such particulars known to the Registrar of Births and Deaths as may be required to enable the Registrar of Electors to amend the roll if necessary. 8. (1.) Every Registrar of Marriages, forthwith after receipt of a notice given pursuant to the Marriage Act, .1908, of the intended marriage of any woman registered as an elector of any district, shall send notice thereof to the Registrar of Electors of that district. _M (2.) On receipt of such notice the Registrar of Electors shall take all proper steps, after verification of the particulars contained in the notice, to amend the roll if necessary. (3.) If for any reason such alteration, is in the roll|before the issue of the writ, the elector shall, if otherwise;^ualified, be entitled to vote in respect of her former name as appearing on the roll.

Compulsory registration of electors.

Penalty for failure to register.

Changes of address to be notified.

Elector not disqualified for ■ failure to notify change of address.

Temporary absence from district not a disqualification.

Notification of death of registered elector.

Notification of marriages for purpose of amending rolls.

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9. As soon as practicable after the expiration ai four months from the commencement of this Act, the Registrar of each electoral district shall compile a new roll of the electors of that district for the purposes of the principal Act, from particulars supplied pursuant to the foregoing provisions of this Act. 10. (1.) On the completion of the preparation of new rolls, as provided for in the last preceding section, the Governor-(General shall. by Order in Council, declare the existing rolls to be abolished as from a date to be therein specified in that behalf (being not later than six months after the passing of this Act), and the new rolls prepared as aforesaid shall thereupon be deemed to be the several electoral rolls for the purposes of the principal Act. (2.) The new rolls prepared as aforesaid shall be printed as required by section twenty-three of the Legislature Amendment Act, 1910 : Provided that, in the event of a by-election being held for any district after the date when the new roll for that district has come into force, and before the same has been printed, the Minister may fix the date on which the main roll shall be closed, and shall cause the same to be printed forthwith. PART 11. Preferential Voting. 11. Nothing in this Part of this Act shall apply with respect to a general election of members for any electoral division to which Part 111 of this Act applies, but this Part of this Act shall apply to by-elections for any such electoral division. 12. The system of voting for one candidate only prescribed by the principal Act with respect to elections thereunder shall not apply with respect to any election (whether a general election or a by-election) to be held thereunder after the commencement of this Act, but, in lieu thereof, the system of preferential voting hereinafter prescribed shall, save so far as otherwise provided in Part 111 of this Act, be adopted and shall apply. 13. Eor the purpose of giving effect to the last preceding section, section one hundred and thirty of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting from subsection one all words after the word " secretly," and substituting therefor the following : " mark the ballot-paper by placing the figure 1 in the square opposite the name of the candidate whom he desires to be elected. He may also, if he so desires, indicate the order of his preference for as many of the other candidates as he pleases by placing in the squares opposite their respective names, other figures next in numerical order after the figure 1." 14. The ballot-paper to be used at any election under this Part of this Act shall be in the form numbered (1) in the First Schedule hereto. Preliminary Count of the Votes. 15. (1:) Every Deputy Returning Officer at the polling-booth at which he presides shall, as soon as practicable after the close of the poll, make up into separate parcels— (a.) The certified copy of the roll supplied to him on which is noted the fact that any elector has tendered his vote; and (b.) The counterfoils of all the ballot-papers that have been issued to voters. (2.) The Deputy Returning Officer shall then in the presence of such of' the scrutineers as choose to be present (including those appointed under section nineteen of the Licensing Act, 1908) and the poll-clerks (if any), but of no other person, open the ballot-box, and,

L Preparation of - now rolls. 5

t i Abolition of existing rolls L 3 I

This Pari not applicable to general elections in certain urban districts.

Preferential-vo ting system to apply to future elootions.

.Mode nf marking ballot-paper.

Form of ballotpaper for preferential voting.

Counterfoils and marked rolls to be sealed up.

Number of firstpreference votes counted.

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taking therefrom all the ballot-papers therein, shall set aside ail informal ballot-papers, and ascertain, in respect of each candidate, the number of ballot-papers which are marked with the figure 1 opposite his name, or which in any other manner indicate the desire of the elector that that candidate should be elected. (3.) The number so ascertained in respect of each candidate shall be deemed to be the number of first-preference votes recorded for that candidate. 16. (1.) A ballot-paper is informal— (a.) If there is reasonable cause to believe that it was not issued to a voter by the Deputy Returning Officer ; or (6.) If it has upon it any mark or writing by which the voter can be identified ; or (c.) If it has no vote indicated on it; or (d.) If it has the figure 1 opposite the names of more than one candidate ; or (c.) If it does not clearly indicate the candidate whom the elector desires to be elected. (2.) A ballot-paper shall not be rejected as informal on. any ground other than those stated in the last preceding subsection. (3.) In particular, a ballot-paper shall not be informal by reason only— (a.) That a figure (not being the figure 1) has been placed opposite the names of more than one candidate, but the votes indicated by that figure or any higher figure shall not be effectual; or (b.) That a figure (not being the figure 1) has been omitted in the numerical sequence of the order of the voter's preference, but the votes indicated by any figure higher than the figure so omitted shall not be effectual; or (c.) That the voter has not placed any figures in the squares opposite the names of the candidates, but has indicated his preference by placing a cross in the square opposite the name of any one candidate. In any such case he shall be deemed to have indicated his first preference for the candidate opposite whose name he has placed such cross ; or (d.) That the voter has struck out the name or names of all candidates save one, and in that case he shall be deemed to have indicated his preference for the candidate whose name has not been struck out. _xk 17. Immediately after ascertaining the number of first-preference votes recorded for each candidate, the Deputy Returning Officer shall announce the result at the polling-booth at which he presides, and shall transmit the result by telegraph or other expeditious means to the Returning Officer. 18. (1.) The Deputy Returning Officer shall then forthwith make up into separate parcels— (a.) The used ballot-papers, together with (but in a separate enclosure) the ballot-papers set aside as informal under section fifteen hereof; (b.) The ballot-papers set aside under section one hundred and thirty-two of the principal Act ; (c.) The unused and spoilt ballot-papers ; (d.) All books and papers kept and used by him during the polling, except the certified copy of the roll supplied to him on which is noted, the fact that any elector has tendered his vote ; and (a.) (i.) A statement of the number of first-preference votes received, by each candidate, and of the number of ballot-papers set aside as informal under section fifteen hereof, or set aside under section one hundred and thirty-two of the principal Act; and

Informal votes.

Result of voting to be announced.

Deputies to make up books and papers in parcels.

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(ii.) A statement of the number of ballot-papers originally delivered Deputy Returning Officer, the number thereof delivered to and used by voters, the number of spoilt ballot-papers, and number of ballot-papers not delivered to and used by voters. (2.) The statements referred to in paragraph (c) of the last 'preceding subsection shall be prepared by the Deputy Returning Officer, and shah be signed by him and by such oi the scrutineers as are present and consent to sign the same. (3.) Each parcel made up pursuant to section fifteen hereof, or this section, shall be sealed by the Deputy Returning Officer with his own seal, and by such scrutineers present as desire to affix their seals, and shall be endorsed by the Deputy Returning Officer with a description of the contents thereof, the name of the district, the name of the pollingbooth, and the date of the polling ; and such endorsement shall be signed by the Deputy Returning Officer. (i.) The Deputy Returning Officer shall with all possible despatch deliver or transmit to the Returning Officer all the separate parcels referred to in the last preceding subsection. Official Count of the Votes and Declaration of Poll. 19. On completion of the scrutiny of the rolls, as directed by section one hundred and forty-two of the principal Act, the Returning Officer, with such assistance as he deems necessary, and in the presence of such of the scrutineers appointed under section forty-eight of the Legislature Amendment Act, 1910, as choose to be present, shall proceed as follows : — (a.) He shall open separately each of the parcels of ballot-papers mentioned in paragraph, (a) of subsection one of the last ■preceding section and, after setting aside all informal ballotpapers, shall count the number of first-preference votes recorded for each candidate on the ballot-papers contained therein, and shall compare the result of the count in respect of each parcel with the corresponding statement mentioned in paragraph (c) of subsection one of the last preceding section. The''Returning Officer shall, where necessary, amend any such statement, and every such statement (whether amended or not) shall be initialled by the Returning Officer. (b.) The Returning Officer shall then deai in like manner with all absent-voters' ballot-papers and seamen's ballot-papers, and shall count the number of first-preference votes recorded thereon for each candidate. (c.) The Returning Officer shall then ascertain the total number of first-preference votes recorded at the election for each candidate. 20. If numbered first-preference votes so recorded for any candidate constitutes an absolute majority (that is, is greater than one-half of the number of all the valid votes recorded at the election, including the casting-vote of the Returning Officer, when given), the Returning Officer shall declare that candidate to be duly elected. 21. If no candidate has received an absolute majority of firstpreference votes, the Returning Officer shall proceed as follows : — («..) He shall declare the candidate who has received the fewest first-preference votes to be a defeated candidate, and shall distribute among the remaining candidates all the ballotpapers previously counted to the defeated candidate according to the indication (if any) of the voters' next preference, and shall add the number so distributed to each candidate to the first-preference votes previously counted to that candidate.

Official count of t the votes. i

1' Declaration of the -. poll where absolute majority obtained. 5

- Provisions to apply where absolute majority not t obtained. 1

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(b.) If any candidate has then, with such addition as aforesaid, received an absolute majority of votes, the Returning Officer shall declare him to be elected. (c.) If no candidate has, with such addition as aforesaid, received an absolute majority of votes, the procedure of declaring the candidate who has received the fewest votes to be a defeated candidate, of distributing his ballot-papers among the then remaining candidates according to the indication (if any) of the voters' next preference, and of adding the number so distributed to each candidate to the number then last counted to that candidate, shall be repeated until one candidate has received an absolute majority of votes, and that candidate shall then be declared duly elected. ((..) If on any count two or more candidates have an equal number of votes, and one of them has to be declared a defeated candidate, the Returning Officer shall decide by lot which is to be so declared. 22. (1.) The Returning Officer shall then seal up into separate parcels the ballot-papers counted to each candidate, and endorse on each parcel a memorandum specifying the name of the candidate and the number of ballot-papers contained in the parcel: and shall sign the endorsement. (2.) The Returning Officer shall also seal up into a separate parcel all the informal ballot-papers, and endorse the same with a note of its contents, and shall sign the endorsement. 23. (1.) The count of the votes by the Returning Officer may be adjourned from time to time as the Returning Officer deems necessary. (2.) Each adjournment and also the time and place for the continuation of the count shall be announced to the scrutineers and officers by the Returning Officer. (3.) Before any such adjournment all ballot-papers and other documents connected with the count shall be locked up by the Returning Officer in one or more ballot-boxes or other safe receptacle under seal ; and any scrutineer who may desire to do so shall be permitted by the Returning Officer to place his special seal upon the outer cover of the receptacle or receptacles in which such ballot-papers and documents are locked up. 24. As soon as conveniently may be after the Returning Officer has ascertained the total number of votes received by each candidate, he shall, if any candidate has received an absolute majority of firstpreference votes, publicly declare, in the form numbered (22) in the Second Schedule to the principal Act, that candidate to be elected, and in any other case shall publicly declare the result of the poll in the form'numbered (2) in the First Schedule hereto.

Subsequent dealings with ballot-papers.

Count may bo adjourned.

Declaration of result of [1011.

PART 111. Proportional Representation. 25. (1.) For the purposes of this Part of this Act there shall be four electoral divisions, to be known respectively as the Auckland Electoral Division, the Wellington Electoral Division, the Christchurch Electoral Division, and the Dunedin Electoral Division. (2.) The said electoral divisions shall, until altered by the Representation Commissions, as provided by this Part of this Act, be constituted as follows: — (a.) I'he Auckland Electoral Division shall comprise the Electoral Districts of Auckland West, Auckland Central, Auckland East, Grey Lynn, and Parnell:

Proportional representation in certain urban districts.

Constitution of doctoral divisions for purposes of proportional representation.

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(b.) The Wellington Electoral Division shall comprise the Electoral Districts of Wellington North, Wellington Central, Wellington East, Wellington South, and Wellington Suburbs : (c.) The Christchurch Electoral Division shall comprise the Electoral Districts of Christchurch North, Christchurch East, Christchurch South, and Avon : (d.) The Dunedin Electoral Division shall comprise the Electoral Districts of Dunedin North, Dunedin West, Dunedin Central, and Dunedin South. (3.) The electoral districts referred to in the last preceding subsection are the electoral districts as defined, with the same names respectively, in. the several Proclamations made by the GovernorGeneral pursuant to section twenty-two of the principal Act, and dated the twentieth day of February, nineteen hundred and twenty-two. 26. Whenever the Representation Commissions divide New Zealand into electoral districts as provided in the principal Act, they shall determine for each electoral division what electoral districts respectively correspond to the electoral districts specified in the last preceding section, and the electoral divisions aforesaid shall, as from the expiry of the then existing Parliament, comprise the electoral districts so determined. 27. (1.) For each electoral division there shall be elected, by the electors of all the corstituent electoral districts within the electoral division, as many representatives as there are electoral districts within that division. (2.) At every general election held after the commencement of this Act the representatives of the several electoral divisions shall be elected in accordance with the provisions of this Part of this Act relating to proportional representation. (3.) If the seat of any member elected to represent an electoral division becomes vacant during the term for which such member was elected, the vacancy shall be filled by an election conducted for the electoral division in accordance with the provisions of Part II of this Act, relating to preferential voting. 28. (1.) For every electoral division there shall be appointed a Returning Officer and such Assistant Returning Officers and other officers as may be necessary. (2.) The Returning Officer appointed for an electoral division shall be the Returning Officer for the several licensing districts comprised in the electoral division. 29. (1.) The electoral districts comprised in any electoral division are herein referred to as electoral subdivisions, and the rolls of such electoial districts as subdivisional rolls. (2.) Every elector for an electoral division who votes within that electoral division shall be entitled to vote only within the electoral subdivision for which he is registered as an elector. 30. At any general election for the election of members for an electoral division, the voter shall mark his ballot-paper in the manner prescribed by Part II of this Act (relating to preferential voting). 31. The ballot-paper to be used, at any election, under this Part of this Act shall be in the form numbered (1) in the First Schedule hereto. Preliminary Count of the Votes. 32. (1.) Every Deputy Returning Officer at the polling-booth at which he presides shall, as soon as practicable after the close of the poll, make up into .separate parcels— (a.) The certified copy of the roll supplied to him on which is noted the fact than any elector has tendered his vote ; and (b.) The counterfoils of all the ballot-papers that have been issued to voters.

• Alteration of | electoral divisions by Representation ' Commissions.

Representation of electoral divisions.

Returning Officer for each electoral division.

Electoral subdivisions and subdivisional rolls.

Mode of marking ballot-paper.

Form of ballot-paper for proportional representation.

Counterfoils and marked rolls to be sealed up.

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(2.) The Deputy Returning Officer shall then, m the presence of such of the scrutineers as choose to be present (including those appointed under section nineteen of the Licensing Act, 1908), and the poll-clerks (if any), but of no other person, open the ballot-box, and, taking therefrom all the ballot-papers therein, shall set aside all informal ballot-papers, and ascertain, in respect of each candidate, the number of ballot-papers which are marked with the figure 1 opposite his name, or which in any other manner indicate the desire of the elector that that candidate should be elected. (3.) The number so ascertained in respect of each candidate shall be deemed to be the number of first-preference votes recorded for that candidate. 33. (1.) A ballot-paper is informal— (a.) If there is reasonable cause to believe that it was not issued to a voter by the Deputy Returning Officer ; or (b.) If it has upon it any mark or writing by which the voter can be identified ; or (c.) If it has no vote indicated on it; or (_.;) If it has the figure 1 opposite the names of more than one candidate; or (c.) If it does not clearly indicate a candidate or candidates whom the elector desires to be elected. (2.) A ballot-paper shall not be rejected as informal on any ground other than those stated, in the last preceding subsection. (3.) In particular, a ballot-paper shall not be informal by reason only— (a.) That a figure (not being the figure 1) has been placed opposite the names of more than one candidate ; but the votes indicated by that figure or any higher figure shall not be effectual; or (b.) That a figure (not being the figure 1) has been omitted in the numerical sequence of the order of the voter's preference ; but the votes indicated by any higher figure than the figure so omitted shall not be effectual; or (c.) That the voter has not placed any figures in the squares opposite the names of the candidates, but has indicated his preference by placing a cross in the square opposite the name of any one candidate. Tn any such case he shall be deemed to have indicated his first preference for the candidate opposite whose name he has placed such cross ; or (_..) That the voter has struck out the name or names of all candidates save one, and in that case he shall be deemed to have indicated his first preference for the candidate whose name has not been struck out. 34. Immediately after ascertaining the number of first-preference votes recorded for each candidate the Deputy Returning Officer shall announce the result at the polling-booth at which he presides ; and shall transmit the result by telegraph or other expeditious means to the Assistant Returning Officer of the electoral subdivision, who, on receipt of all such returns, shall ascertain therefrom the total number of first-preference votes received by each candidate within the electoral subdivision and transmit the result by telegraph or other expeditious means to the Returning Officer of the electoral division. 35. (1.) I'he Deputy Returning Officer shall then forthwith make up into separate parcels, — (a.) The used ballot-papers, together with (but in a separate enclosure) the ballot-papers set aside as informal under section thirty-two hereof; (b.) The ballot-papers set aside under section one hundred and thirty-two of the principal Act";

Number of firstpreference votes counted.

Informal votes.

Result of voting to be announced.

Deputies to make up books and papers in parcels.

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(c.) The unused and spoilt ballot-papers; (d.) All books and papers kept and used by him during the polling, except the certified copy of the roll supplied to him on which is noted the fact that any elector has tendered his vote ; and (c..) (i.) A statement of the number of first-preference votes received by each candidate and of the number of ballotpapers set aside as informal under section thirty-two hereof, or set aside under section one hundred and thirty-two of the principal Act; and (ii.) A statement of the number of ballot-papers originally delivered to the Deputy Returning Officer, the number thereof delivered to and used by voters, the number of spoilt ballot-papers, and the number of ballot-papers not delivered to and used by voters. (2.) The statements referred to in paragraph (c) of the last preceding subsection shall be prepared by the Deputy Returning Officer, and shall be signed by him and by such of the scrutineers as are present and consent to sign the same. (3.) Each parcel made up pursuant to section thirty-two hereof or this section shall be sealed by the Deputy Returning Officer with his own seal and by such scrutineers present as desire to affix their seals, and shall be endorsed by the Deputy Returning Officer with a description of the contents thereof, the name of the electoral subdivision, the name of the polling-booth, and the date of the polling, and such endorsement shall be signed by the Deputy Returning Officer. (4.) The Deputy Returning Officer shall, with all possible despatch, deliver or transmit to the Assistant Returning Officer of the electoral subdivision all the separate parcels referred to in the last preceding subsection. Official Count of the Votes and Declaration of Poll. 36. (I.) On completion of the scrutiny of the rolls as directed by section one hundred and forty-two of the principal Act the Assistant Returning Officer shall forward the result thereof to the Returning Officer of the electoral division. (2.) On receipt of the results of every such scrutiny conducted within the electoral division, the Returning Officer, with such assistance as he deems necessary, and in the presence of such of the scrutineers appointed under section forty-eight of the Legislature Amendment Act, 1910, as choose to be present, shall proceed as follows :— (a.) He shall open separately each of the parcels of ballot-papers mentioned in paragraph (a) of subsection one of the last preceding section, and, after setting aside all informal ballotpapers, shall count the number of first-preference votes recorded for each candidate on the ballot-papers contained therein, and shall compare the result of the count in respect of- each parcel with the corresponding statement mentioned in paragraph (c) of subsection one of the last preceding section. The Returning Officer shall, where necessary, amend any such statement, and every such statement (whether amended or not) shall be initialled by the Returning Officer. (/;.) The Returning Officer shall then deal in like manner with all absent voters' ballot-papers and seamen's ballot-papers, and shall count the number of first-preference votes recorded thereon for each candidate. (c.) The Returning Officer shall then count the votes in accordance with the rules set out in the Third Schedule to the Legislative Council Act, 1914.

Official count of the votes.

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37. (1.) The count of the votes by the Returning Officer may be adjourned from time to time as the Returning Officer deems necessary. (2.) Each adjournment and also the time and place for the continuation of the count shall be announced to the scrutineers and officers by the Returning Officer. (3.) Before any such adjournment all ballot-papers and other documents connected with the count shall be locked up by the Returning Officer in one or more ballot-boxes or other safe receptacle under seal ; and any scrutineer who may desire to do so shall be permitted by the Returning Officer to place his special seal upon the outer cover of the receptacle or receptacles in which such ballot-papers and documents are locked up. 38. As soon as conveniently may be after the counting of the votes has been completed the Returning Officer shall publicly declare the result of the poll, and the persons declared to be elected shall be deemed to be elected accordingly. PARI 1 IV. Miscellaneous. 39. Section forty of the principal Act is hereby amended by repealing subsection four, and substituting the following subsections : — " (4.) Save as otherwise provided in the next succeeding subsection, there shall be a separate Registrar for every electoral district, who may also be the Returning Officer for the same district. " (4a.) One Registrar may be appointed for any two or more districts in. each of which is comprised any part of the cities of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin." 40. Section fifty-two of the Legislature Amendment Act, 1910, is hereby amended, by repealing subsections three to seven thereof, and substituting the following subsection : — " (3.) The Returning Officer shall transmit to the Registrar of the district the copy of the roll marked in accordance with the provisions of subsection one hereof, and the Registrar shall, as and when directed by the Chief Electoral Officer, make inquiries with respect to the persons shown thereon as not having voted ; and no such person shall have his name removed from the roll unless it is proved to the satisfaction of the Registrar that he has ceased to be qualified as an elector of the district." 41. (1.) Any registered elector who retains his qualification for registration as an elector of the district for which he is registered shall, in the case of a general election, be entitled to vote at any polling-place outside that district in such manner and on such conditions as may be prescribed by regulations in that behalf; and, in the case of a by-election, may vote at any post-office outside the district at any time while that post-office is open for the transaction of ordinary business. (2.) Nothing in this section shall apply with respect to seamen. (3.) The foregoing provisions of this section shall apply with respect to any poll taken under the Licensing Act, 1908. 42. (1.) The following classes of persons, not being registered as electors of any district, may, on making a declaration in the prescribed form that they are qualified to be enrolled as electors, vote as electors of the district in which they are resident, namely : — (a.) Any person whose name is ruled out on any certified copy of the roll supplied to the Returning Officer pursuant to section twenty-four of the Legislature Amendment Act, 1910 ; or (b.) Any person who, having applied for enrolment as an elector at any time before six o'clock in the afternoon of the day of the issue of the writ, and having been informed by the Registrar that he has been enrolled, has not been so enrolled.

Count may be adjourned.

Declaration of result of poll.

Section 40 of principal Act amended.

Seotion 52 of Amendment Act, 1010, amended.

Absent voters

Certain poisons entitled to vote on making declaration as to qualifications.

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(2.) Every person who votes under the authority of this section shall enclose his voting-papers in an envelope which shall be sealed by the voter in the presence of the Deputy Returning Officer. The envelope and declaration shall be numbered by the Deputy Returning Officer, and the voting-papers shall then be deposited by the elector in the ballot-box. (3.) After the close of the poll the declarations, with the relative voting-papers, shall be forwarded to the Returning Officer for verification, and the votes shall be counted only if the Returning Officer is satisfied that the declarations have been properly made. (4.) Where the Returning Officer is satisfied that a declaration has been properly made, he shall forward the same to the Registrar for the district, who shall thereupon take all necessary steps for the registration of the declarant as an elector. (5.) Every person who knowingly and wilfully makes a false statement in any declaration under this section shall be liable to a fine of fifty pounds. (6.) Section thirteen of the Expeditionary Forces Voting and Electoral Rights Amendment Act, 1919, is hereby repealed. 43. (1.) Section thirty-five of the principal Act is hereby amended by repealing paragraph (b) of subsection one and substituting the following paragraph: — " (b.) Every person lawfully on the existing roll of the district as provided by the next succeeding subsection." (2.) The said section thirty-five is hereby further amended by inserting after subsection one the following subsection : — " (la.) Every adult person who has resided for one year in New Zealand and who has resided in any electoral district for not less than three months immediately preceding the date of his application for registration as an elector of that district, and who is a British subject either by birth or by naturalization in New Zealand, is entitled, subject to the provisions of this Act, to be registered as an elector of that district: " Provided that Maoris (other than half-castes) shall not be entitled to be registered as electors under this subsection." (3.) Section two of the Legislature Amendment Act, 1914, is hereby repealed. (4.) Section four of the Legislature Amendment Act, 1914, is hereby amended by omitting from subsection one and also from subsection two the words " one month " and substituting the words " three months." 44. Section one hundred and ten of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting from subsection one the words "in the form numbered (17) in the Second Schedule hereto." 45. The enactments mentioned in the Second Schedule hereto are hereby repealed to the extent indicated in that Schedule.

Consequential repeal.

Residential qualifications of electors.

Consequential repeal.

Section 110 of principal Act amended.

Repeals,

3—H. 39.

H.—39/,

12

Schedules.

SCHEDULES.

FIRST' SCHEDULE. (I.) Ballot-papue. (Front.)

DIRECTIONS. 1. The voter must not strike out the namo of any candidate. '2. The voter must place the figure I in the square opposite the namo of the candidate whom he desires to be elected. 3. The voter may also, if he so desires, indicate the order of his preference for as many of the other candidates as he pleases, by placing in the squares opposite their respective names othor figures next in numerical order after the figure 1. 4. The ballot-paper is to be folded up so that the contents cannot be seen, and the official mark on the back having been shown to the Deputy Returning Officer, the ballot-paper is to be put into the ballot-box by the voter. 5. This ballot-paper is not to be taken out of the polling-booth. (Hack.) Consecutive No.: To be entered here and also on the top loft-hand corner of the back of ballot-paper. ly— ; No. on Eoll: To be entered here only. I Official Stamp acvonK the perforation \ so tbat the J number of the J booth appears \ on both the counterfoil and the ballot-paper. I | Mark. Initials of Deputy Returning Officer :

13

H.—39

(2.) Declaration of Result of Poll. I, A. 8., Returning Officer for the Electoral District of , do hereby declare the result of the poll taken on the day of ,19 , for the election of a member of Parliament for the said district to be as follows :—

Total number of valid ballot-papers Number of ballot-papers rejected as informal .. I hereby declare CD. to be duly elected. Dated at , this day of ,19 . A. 8., Returning Officer.

SECOND SCHEDULE. Enactments repealed.

Approximate Cost of Paper. —Preparation, not given ; printing (550 copies), £7 10s.

Authority : W. A. G. Skinner, Government Printer, Wellington.—l 923.

Price 6'rf.]

Candidates. First-preference Votes. Second or other Preferenoe Votes. Total Votes. 0. D. E. F. Cl. H. I.J.

Title of Enactment. Extent of .Repeal. 1908, No. 101.- -The Legislature Act, 1.908 Sections 42, 44, 46, 48, 61, 137, and subsection (2) of section 233. Sections 12, 13, 31 (2), 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49, and 53; Schedule, Forms Nos. (6), (7), (8), (9), and (10). Sections 20, 21, 22 (a), 24 {a), and 24 (c); Schedule, Forms Nos. (1) and (3). Subsections (I) and (2) of section 17. 1910, No. 59. —The Legislature Amendment Aot, 1.910 1911, No. 33.—The Legislature Amendment Act, 1914 1919, No. 51. —The Expeditionary Forces Voting and Electoral Rights Amendment Act, 1919