WILL ENFORCE THE LAW.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 236, 5 October 1928, Page 8

WILL ENFORCE THE LAW.

ENROLMENT OF ELECTORS.

NOTES OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN.

REGISTRAR ASKS FOR NAMES.

"Dear Sir, —Your name does not appear on any of the city electoral rolls. If you have not already enrolled, please do so as soon as possible. Fill in the enclosed form and send to the Registrar of Electors, High Street."

From an unknown source notes lii»» these are being delivered by the postmen to residents in and around the city. That they do not emanate from the office of the registrar was made clear by Mr. Evans to a pressman today. "If the author of the slips," he said, "will supply me with the names and addresses of people who have failed to register, although possessing the necessary qualifications, I will take steps to enforce the law in all such cases." Mr. Evans added that he thought it was desirable that the attention of electors applying for enrolment on the supplementary roll, which is now being compiled, should be drawn to the qualifications they must possess before they are eligible for registration. "They must," he said, "have attained the age of 21 years, be British subjects by birth or naturalisation in New Zealand, and have resided in the Dominion for • one year and in the electorate for which they claim enrolment for three months immediately preceding the date of their applications. Their attention i s also drawn to the importance of disclosing in their applications the name of the electorate, if any, in which they were previously enrolled, so that steps may be taken to transfer their names from that roll. No elector may be registered on more than one electoral roll." Not Employed by Department.

The Registrar of Electors wishes it to be distinctly understood that people who are making a house-to-house canvass for the purpose of obtaining applications for registration are not employed by the Electoral Department, but are representing various interested local organisations. He advises electors, especially women, to read the application forms for themselves, and not to sign the printed statements therein unless these meet their cases. It is of importance to remember that every person who makes a false statement is liable to a fine of £20 or to three months' imprisonment, and every person who wilfully misleads the registrar in the compilation of the roll or enters or causes to be entered thereon any false or fictitious name or qualification, or signs the name of any other person, whether requested to do so or not, or signs his name as witness to any signature upon an application without having seen such signature written, or without hearing the person signing declare that the signature is in his own handwriting and that the name so signed is his own proper name, is liable to a fine of £50. The registrar requests that electors who apply for enrolment and then immediately move to other addresses before the registrar's acknowledgment cards have time to reach them should advise him at once of their change of address as a guarantee of good faith, although the law allows them two months, in which to do so. This will enable the acknowledgment cards to be re-addressed to the electors concerned and delivery effected. The Electoral Act provides that the locality of residence in respect of which registration is claimed shall be specified in such manner aa to enable it to be easily and clearly identified.

Advice to Electors. For the foregoing reason persons who are living in lodgings in streets without house numbers are requested, when applying for registration, to state their addresses as in care of the persons, with whom they are residing, in addition to the names of the streets. "Electors are advised," said the registrar, "to take no notice of typewritten slips sent to them by any interested persons who fail to give their names and addresses. These have been issued by some person or persons unknown, who are urging electors to register when they have already enrolled since the main roll closed on July 5, or who are not yet qualified to enrol." As the supplementary roll will be closed as soon as the writs for the general election are issued in Wellington little time now remains for the completion of enrolments.