ELECTION COSTS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1133, 22 May 1911, Page 4

ELECTION COSTS.

CITY COUNCIL AND HARBOUR BOARD. In view- of the allegation of the chairman of the Harbour Board (Mr. K. Fletcher) that the snm of .£l5B, which the City Council fecks to recover from tho board as its sh/ire in the cost of tho recent election, is excessive, tho following comparative particulars, supplied by the City Keturning Officer (Mr. James Amos) are of interest. The comparison applies to tho IGIO Harbour Board election, which was conducted by that body independently, and tho'election of April last:— At tho 1910 e!isii<lll voters were asked to select two candidates out of four.

At tho last election there were eight candidates for four vacancies on the Harbour Board.

For the 1010 election the. greatest number of votes cast for any one candidate was 2339, and only about. 10,000 ballot papers wore provided—at the last election 12.J73 electors voted for the. board candidate, who topped the poll. The totul number of ballot papers provided was 25,000.

For the 1010 election (conducted at a cost of ~C!so>, lfi booths were provided, containing 22 polling places. At the last election -9 booths, containing CO polling places, were open to Harbour Board electors. The cost of providing the?-c booth?, together wilh the salaries of ro- ' turning officers and pel! clerks, wns .{MM, The Returning Officer s'tntes that, in view of the'extended franchise, mere t'lnn lfi booths would have had to to provided for the Harbour Board election, even ]\M it been conducted alone, and the cost to the board would have been greater (han tlie sum it has been colled upon to pay The Cily Council, at its own cost, expended between .CIOO and .£SOO in printing the electoral rolls. This expenditure is independent cf the sum exnended in paying- the clerical staff, which was i'n.7n.mcl for weeks before the election in preparing tho rolls for printing. At the miO election the TTarbour Board had (o bnr the cort of preparin.t,' a. sunplementarv roll. At the late election it had notliinj' to pay for roll compilation. '

Finally. Mr. Amos staled that (ho City Council, at its own cost, provided tli'o screens, ballot boxes, and oilier fittincs for the iwlling booths, and made no ron'TehaiKe for the u?o of the Town Hall and Newtpwn Library booths by Harbour Baord electors.