THE ELECTIONS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1588, 18 June 1887, Page 3

THE ELECTIONS.

According to latest advices it would seem that the new Parliament : ii- not likely to be called together before the middle of September, the fifteenth or twentieth of that month being named as the earlies.t possible date. Th's long delay is evidently not due to the time required for readjusting the boundaries of the electorates m accordance with the provisions of the new Act, inasmuch as we believe we are correct m saying that the re-division of .the North Island is already completed, and that that of the '. South Island will be finished by the Commissioners before the end of next week. If so, they will have shown every possible despatch, and were this all that required to be done, the writs could be issued forthwith. But there is very much more than that to be provided for. The boundaries adjusted, the- work of the registrars commences. In all probability the end of this month will have arrived before the boundaries are gazetted and the gazettes reach the registrars. These have then to compile the rolls for the new districts, transferring the names from the existing 'rolls, after which the rolls sa compiled have to be printed. Say thai?: this. takes six weeks altogether, and; we have arrived at the middle of July. Tbin the rolls have to remain: open for inspection for a reasonable time to admit of objections to inclusion or exclusion being lodged, considered, and allowed or disallowed, and the complete and corrected rolls will be- ready for use, say at the beginning of August. If m the first week of August forty- day writs are issued, the date for the retufn of the writs will obviously be from the 15th to the 20th September as above slated. On the whole, then ie appears probable ' that the polling will take place some time m the early part of September ; but as no one can register a claim to vote after the issue of the writs, those who desire :to get their names placed, on the roll must remember that m all likelihood their chance of so doing will not extepd over more than seven or eight weeks from the present date; quite possibly considerably less. The safe course is, therefore, to see ;to this important matter without delay — as our Yankee cousins expressively put it, " right off." It is assumed by nearly everybody who writes or speaks upon this question, that everybody else knows all about the electoral law and thoroughly understands what are the qualifications for a vote, but 4 as we happen to know from enquiries which are from time to time made of us that this is very far from being the case we take this, opportunity of stating here that there; are two qualifications, the freehold and the residential, and that the latter is so broad as to be very nearly equivalent to manhood suffmge. Under it every male person of 21 years of age or upwards, and who has resided for twelve months consecutively m the Colony, and for the last six months of that term m any electoral, district, is entitled to a; vote m; that d istrict, always provided that he sends m a claim to have his name . placed on the roll ptior to the date of the issue of , the, writs. A form of claim can be procured at the office of any Registrar of Electors (Mr Ward, Burnett street, is the Registrar for Ashburton and Wakanui electorates) or, if the Government has carried -out its promise to that effect, at any post-office, oncan be obtained at the office of the " Mail " and " Guardian," or can be cut out of the last page of any copy ,'of the "Guardian " newspaper. "Thus there is no trouble m procuring the form of claim. The form obtained, it must be' filled up and signed by the claimant m the proper places (there is no difficulty whatever m doing this) and the claimant's signature must be attested, either by the Registrar, or by a" Justice of the Peace, or by any elector whose name is alteady on the roil, and the claim may then either be left at the office of the Registrar or sent to him by post. It will not require to be stamped being free of postage if marked outside " Claim to vote." Now let every one of, our readers who peruses the foregoing, and who is possessed of the qualification, see to it ; at once that his name is already on the roll, or that a claim is forthwith sent m by him to have it placed thereon, for unless he does soil will certainly happen that many who would desire to exercise a vote when polling-day comes will find themselves shut out by their own carelessness, or fatal procrastination, from the opportunity of • sodoing. A word as to theobjectionraised by* some that until the boundaries are published, they do not know for which electorate to claim. There is absolutely nothing m that objection, for if by a change of boundaries it occur that an elector registered . for say the electorate of Ashburton find himself become an elector of the Wakanui district instead, or vice versa t it will be the duty of the Registrar to transfer his name, arid even should the Registrar fail to do this the elector need not lose his vote, for he will be able m the interim between the publication of the new rolls and the issue of the writs to put m a new claim or an application for the transfer ot his name from one roll to the other; There is therefore no possible excuse for delay, and those who have not time to ascertain that their names are duly on the roll should make themselves perfectly safe by sending m a claim forthwith. If their names be already on the roll there is no harm done m sending m a fresh claim, while the sending m of a claim is an absolute safeguard against the .possibility, of being disfranchised. Let everybody, who is entitled to do so, therefore register, and let it be done at once. To every one of our readers we say—" Register your "vote, and do it this very day."