VOTING BY J-FORCE MEMBERS

Chronicle (Levin), 15 April 1947, Page 8

VOTING BY J-FORCE MEMBERS

HAMILTON, April 15. The conterntian that although the home of two members of JForce who voted i'h Japan for Raglan lay outside the Raglan houndaries, the court was precluded from making any inquiry into the qualification to vote of a soldier voter, was made by Mr. T; P. Cleary, for ' the respondent, Mr. Baxter, wh'en the Electoral Court tbday resumed the hearing of Mr. Hallyburton Johnstone's petitio'n. Mr. Cleary was referring to the voters, John Vivian Phillips and Laurence Joseph Phillips. Mr. Cleary based his arguments on the section of the Electoral Amendment Act, 1940, dealing

with voting by soldiers. This section states irAter alia) : "The validity of any election shall not be jrought in question.cn the ground that any person- who-: has voted under this Act was 'not entitled to vote." Mr. Cleary said that the two young Phillips' lived at Ten Foot ftoad, Taupiri, whieh was some distance outside the Raglan poundaries, although the tGwn ox Taupiri was within Raglan. There was a. time when part of Ten Foot Road was in Raglan and part .of it was not. In 1943 there was a polling booth in Raglan jnown as Ten Foot Road. Mr. Cleary said that under the regulations governing soldier voting there was nothing providing ,;hat 'the compilaticn of the JFOrce roll should be on the basis of declarations made by intending . Jectors, as was the case with a civilian vote. The J-Force roll was ieft to the electoral officer, who, firstly, used army reeords, whieh gave the soldiers' home addresses; secondly, checked their information where possible with the soldier, who was asked to give his address and his electorate; and, thirdly, checked the information already gained against departmental information asto electoral bouridaries. Despite the care taken by the Electoral Department in compiling the J-Foree roll, it now appeared that a few soldiers had voted in the wrong elect-orates. That was not surprising when -it was remembered that xhere were .5000 members of JForee whom the electoral officer had to assign to an electorate under sc-mewhat improvised- condi,iOns. ' The court was being asked to disfranchise these two soldiers, continued ' Mr. Cleary. "When a soldier goes in to vote in some polling booth in Japan, a roll is produced and he is shown as an elector of Raglan. He just would not know whether, as a result of ihe boundary changes in June, 1946, he might be in Raglan or in Hauraki." Counsel added that the Amending Act of 1940 was intended to prevent subsequent questioning of votes taken overseas under military conditions. The two Phillips', said Mr. Cleary, were not the only two JForce soldiers on the Raglan roll who, it had been ascertained, came t from a home outside the boundaries. There were two other cases not on the petitioner's list, "for reasons from whieh one cai make an obvious inference."