The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prevalebit. THURSDAY, JULY 16, 1885 Roll Stuffing.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1554, 16 July 1885, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prevalebit. THURSDAY, JULY 16, 1885 Roll Stuffing.

The case of John Bryson, which was heard at the Resident Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, is one which the Wakanui electors will do well to study. Bryson, it was shown in evidence, is a man without any settled place of abode. About the 20th of February last he arrived in Ashburton from Geraldine, where he had been residing, and previous to that he had, it appeared, been living in Oaraaru. On the 10th of June he made a claim and declaration in accordance with the Registration of Electors Act, and under the very eyes of the successful candidate for Wakanui, that he had resided during the six months immediately preceding the date of the declaration within the Wakanui district. Upon the faith of, this declaration he got his name inserted on the electoral roll, and voted at the recent election —presumably in favor «f Mr Ivess. Now, it is plain that if Bryson had resided during the whole period between the 20th February and the roth June in the Wakanui district he would only have lived there between three and four months, and would not have been qualified to become an elector; but it turned out that he had, during part of the period, lived within the Ashburton district and had only been working at Wakanui for some two months prior to making the declaration. Even then, he made the town ot Ashburton his headquarters, returning thither every Saturday night. A lame story was set up by the defence to the effect that the election agent, who recommended Bryson to put his name on the Wakanui roll, believed that Bryson was an elector of Oamaru and so would be entitled to have his name transferred to the Wakanui roll after a month’s residence in the district; but Bryson himself, while in the witness box, promptly dispelled any idea which might have been entertained that he was really entitled to become a Wakanui elector by stating that his name had never been on the Oamaru or any other electoral roll. That Bryson had made a false declaration was perfectly clear ; but the Resident Magistrate thought it was open to doubt whether he had made it “wilfully,” and gave him the benefit of the doubt. Still, the fact remains that here was a totally unqualified person whose name was placed' upon the roll just before the election, and whose vote assisted to return the present member for Wakanui. He may be taken as a typical instance. It is by the votes of the Brysons and similar persons that the votes of the permanent residents of the district are swamped, and the representation of Wakanui is thrown into the hands of a man who really represents the floating and not the settled population. One thing is made evident by this prosecution, viz—that the Registration of Electors Act urgently needs amendment so as to render it less easy than it is at present for unscrupulous candidates and their partisans to stuff the electoral rolls of the colony with the names of unqualified persons.