Nationalist Wins Raglan Seat

Chronicle (Levin), 6 March 1946, Page 8

Nationalist Wins Raglan Seat

-Press Association

GOYERNIENT BiATEK MAJORITY OF 194 VOTES j

By Telegraph-

AUCKLAND, March 5. When the provisional count for the Raglan by-election was completed tonight, it showecl that Mr. H. Jolmstone, the National Party candidate, uad a majority of 194 votes over Mr. A. c. Baxter, his Laboar opponent. There are still 530 ahsentee and postal' votes to come, as weil as an unknown nurnber of votes from Servicemen in ohe eiectorate. The official. figures for the provisipnaj count were: — Johnstone (National) .. .. 4628 Baxter (Lahonr) 4433 Majority for Johnstone . . 194 A totai of 25 votes was cast by Servicemen overseas. Of these Mr. Baxter received 14 and Mr. Johnstone 11. There were 30 informal votes out of a totai roll of 13,477. Ahsentee votes totalling 378 and postal votes totalling 152 have still to come in. In addition, a number of votes from Servicemen in camps within the eiectorate have yet to he taken into eonsideration. These votes will go to Wellington to De counted, and it is not expected that the results will be known for ahout a week. The numher of these Servicemen is not known. Congratulations on the clean manner in whi.ch the by-election had' been carried out were given by the suecessful National Party candidate to his opponent when both candidates addressed a iarge crowd whjch asseiiioled outside the Chief Returning Office at the Ngaruawahia Post ufhce when. the resulfs

of the provisional count were made known. There were rounds bf hearty appiause for hoth candidates. "It has been a clean contest and I would take this opportunity of assurmg the electors of Raglan tnat, if tiie official • counf shows that I have been returned, I will do my hest in the interests of the electors and the country, ' ' . said Mr. Johnstone. Mr. Baxter also expressed appreciation of the way in whieh his opponent had conducted his campaign and he thanked the electors who uad voted foi him. / LAST ELECTION FIGURES In the 1943 election the iate Mr. Coulter had a majority of 108 votes over his National opponent. The voLng then was: — jR. Coulter (Lahour) 4817 R-. J. Glasgow (National) . . . . 47u9 A. Dilion (Democratic Lahour) 2d9 S. Barton ^Real Democracy Movement) 221 informal 90 With a totai vote of 10,126, only 780 electors relrained from exercising their franchise. In 1943 a totai of 780 Servicemen 's votes was recorded, 382 for Mr. Coulter, 322 for Mr. Glasgow and 76 distriDuccd between tno i;v»o other candidates and informal. The absentee votes at the last election totaiied 611, of whieh ivir. Couitei received 305, Mr. Glasgow 277, rvrr. Dilion 21 and l,ir. Burton 8.